


Rare things must be cherished.

by stupidnephlim



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Alec is a Shadowhunter and a Warlock, Alec is an adorable bean, Alec is special, Alec is the key, Alec will be badass, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempt at humour, Bad Parenting, Betrayal, Blood, Blood Sacrifices, Chairman Meow and Alec are besties, Character Death, Confessions, Cuddles, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, First Kisses, Fluff, Friend Bonding, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Healthy Malec is the best Malec, Homophobic Slurs, Hurt Alec, Izzy and Jace are up to something, Lies, Lots of friendship formed, Love Confessions, M/M, Magnus and Alec are best friends, Magnus helps Alec, Magnus teaches Alec how to use magic, No Smut, Oblivious Izzy and Jace, Plot Twists, Redemption, Resurrections, Reunions, Sad Alec, Sappy Malec, Sharing a Bed, Sibling Bonding, Slow Burn, Truth digging, Violence, Warlock Marks, Worried Magnus, chairman meow - Freeform, magic talk, magnus is badass, maia and alec brotp, platonic hugs, shape shifting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-19 01:14:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 68,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11886807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stupidnephlim/pseuds/stupidnephlim
Summary: Alec Lightwood is a hybrid of a Warlock and a Shadowhunter. His parents locked him away when his Warlock Mark revealed itself.Magnus Bane, the high warlock of Brooklyn, is looking for his lost friend, Ragnor, (who isn't really lost) and on his search he finds something different and rare.After all, they say you find the best things when you're not really looking for them.





	1. Blue aura

Alec wearily blinked his eyes open. Everything around him was blurry and spinning. He flinched when he felt icy cold hands touch his bare chest and he looked down to see fingertips, digging into his skin. “How’s he doing?” Some body asked. A _female_ somebody. Alec was too tired to figure out who the voice belonged to. He turned his head slowly, but his vision was too blurry to be able to tell who the person was. “I gave him sedatives to stop him from screaming when we injected him with the syringe. So he is feeling very tired and drowsy.” A male voice replied. The female hummed and walked closer, but not close enough. Alec blinked his eyes rapidly, until his vision cleared a tiny a bit, enough for him to recognise who the woman was.

“Mother.” He whimpered out and saw how the woman flinched and straightened up. She glared at Alec and lifted her hand up. The hand came at phenomenal speed and made contact with Alec’s cheek. “Do _not_ call me that. I am not your mother. Never was. Never will be.” She spat out before turning around and walking out of the room.

The burning sting on his cheek made tears pool into his eyes, but it was her words that deeply struck, Alec, inside. Alec turned his gaze on the man, and as his mind cleared up he recognised him as his doctor. Or rather the man who injected him with different things every other week. Alec saw the pure disgust on his doctor’s face, before he stepped out of the room, and locked Alec inside.

Alec felt sleep calling him, and he let himself be pulled into a dreamless sleep.

***  
Magnus was reading one of his favourite novels; pride and prejudice, when his phone began to ring. He groaned in frustration and gently pushed Chairman Meow off of his lap to grab his phone off the coffee table. He read the caller ID and saw it was Cat. His longest and dearest friend. Magnus placed his bookmark into his book and accepted the call. “My dearest Cat. To what do I owe this pleasure?” He said into the phone.

He could hear movement coming from Cat’s side and guessed she was probably at work. Cat worked at the nearest mundane hospital. “Magnus. Have you heard from Ragnor recently?” Cat asked and Magnus rolled his eyes at the mention of the cabbage. “No. Not since that party I threw last week in his honour.” Magnus replied.

Last week was Ragnor’s birthday, and even though he was a centuries old warlock, Magnus wanted to do something fun for his dear friend. “Me too.” Cat replied. “But he always checks in on me everyday and I haven’t received a call from him today.” She sounded worried, Magnus noted, which made Magnus worry. “You want me to check on him?” He asked, and he could practically hear Cat sigh with relief.  
“Yes. Thank you.” She replied. Magnus murmured out a goodbye before hanging up.

He got up and walked into his office, to get his spell book. He was the high warlock of Brooklyn and in order to protect all his people he had a spell that when cast, told him the whereabouts of every warlock in the city. He murmured out the spell, and after a few seconds he saw a map appear in front of his eyes. On the map, to show where each warlock was, the aura of the warlock appeared. Every Warlock had a different colour for their aura to represent them on the map. He could see Cat’s, maroon, aura moving about as she moved about inside the hospital. He could see his friend Malcolm’s, who had a grey aura walking around in Central Park.

He passed along a lot of different auras until he found the green familiar aura of his best friend. Magnus could see his location and as he saw it was a bar that his fear friend was at, Magnus rolled his eyes at his friends bad habits of day drinking and grabbed his phone to call Cat.

“Hey Cat. I found him.” Magnus said into the phone as soon as she picked up.  
“You did?” She exclaimed. “Where?”  
“He is at Jade Wolf.” Magnus replied.  
“Okay, I am on my break so I will go and get him.” She ended the call after replying. Magnus looked back at the map and was about to close it down, when he saw a blue aura that he was sure he had never seen before. Albeit, it had been decades since he last did this spell, and there was bound to be more warlocks being born. But the colour of the aura wasn't what intrigued him. Although it was an extraordinary shade of blue. It was the _location_.

The New York institute.

Now, there was nothing strange for a warlock to go to the institute to do a job for the Lightwoods, who ran the place. But… what _was_ strange was the fact that the blue aura, coming from the institute, seemed to be calling out for help.

When a warlock was in trouble or hurt, their aura started to pulse, almost like a beacon, drawing attention to itself in order to be noticed. Magnus saw how the aura pulsed almost like a heartbeat, and he noticed how weak the aura looked. Like the warlock was dying or on the brink of death.

Magnus quickly moved into action and reached for his phone. He decided to call Tessa, since Cat was busy finding Ragnor. To help him find a way to recuse the poor warlock. Just as he was about to dial Tessa’s number, as if fate was helping him out, he saw his phone light up as the number from the New York institute rang him. He answered the phone, placing it to his ear. “Magnus!” Said the voice and Magnus recognised the voice to be Isabelle Lightwood’s. The head of the institute. Daughter of Maryse and Robert Lightwood.

Unlike her parents, Magnus actually liked her. Her fashion sense was amazing for a Shadowhunter who was always wearing black. “Ah, Isabelle. What can I do for you?” Magnus asked.  
“My parents are going back to Idris tomorrow and we need a warlock to create a portal.” She spoke with a strong headed voice. Magnus smiled at her words, because even though he didn’t really like the Shadowhunters, Izzy was actually polite. “Sure, what time do you want me to come?” He asked and after arranging the time, Magnus ended the call.

He knew he had to something about the warlock trapped in the institute, and it looked like Izzy had given him the perfect opportunity. He didn’t know if Izzy knew about the warlock trapped inside the institute, but then again she dis run the place so of course she knew! He thought bitterly. He sighed and walked into his room, deciding to get some rest. But before he did so, he rang Tess to form a plan for the next day. 

***

“Goodbye Isabelle, Jace.” Maryse was hugging her children, just as Magnus walked into the institute. Isabelle smiled at Magnus and Jace nodded at the warlock. Meanwhile Maryse scowled at him. “You’re late.” She sneered and Magnus resisted the urge to roll his eyes.  
“This may seem surprising to you, but you’re not the only one who has work to do. I can’t just drop everything when you call, now can I?” Magnus smiled sweetly at Mayrse, so sweet that it would have caused cavities to form. Maryse huffed and walked to her suitcases, picking them up. “Enough chit chat Warlock and get to work.” She ordered and Magnus had to bite his tongue in order to stop himself from answering back. He needed her out as soon as possible for his plan to work. Magnus nodded and walked to the nearest wall and opened up a portal to which Maryse and Robert stepped through.

After the older Lightwoods stepped through, Magnus closed the portal and turned around to face Isabelle and Jace. He didn’t fully know the story of how Jace came to live with the Lightwoods, but all he knew was that he was adopted.

Isabelle smiled at Magnus and walked closer to the warlock. “I love that jacket!” She looked at the jacket, excitement running through her eyes. Magnus chuckled and thanked her. She opened her mouth to continue their conversation when the alarms wemt off in the institute. That alarms that practically screamed _demons_. Magnus hid his smile behind his hand, at Tessa's perfect timing. 

Both Jace and Isabelle immediately were on alert and made their way to the Ops centre. But before Izzy could go far she turned, facing Magnus. “You okay to find your way out?” She asked and Magnus nodded and shooed her away.

As soon as she turned the corner and out of Magnus’s sight, Magnus turned to look for the blue aura he had found yesterday. He opened up the map again, and he could see he was getting closer to the aura. After walking through the many corridors of the institute, he came across a bedroom door. One that looked differently than the others. 

The door was separated from the others, and Magnus knew he had found the right one. He turned the door knob but sighed in frustration as he found it locked. He quickly looked around before using his magic to unlock the door.

He stepped inside cautiously, not knowing what he would find. The room was dark, and his eyes took a while to adjust to the difference in the lighting. But when his eyes finally adjusted enough to know where everything was, he stepped further into the room. He looked around and saw a small room with a bed and a table in the far corner. The window was boarded up, not letting any light in. He looked around the room again and felt confused as to why his magic led him here. He lookaed around again stilled when he saw something move under the bed covers. 

Magnus slowly moved closer, until he was standing next to the bed. He slowly moved away the blanket, and he felt the exact moment he stopped breathing. His eyes widened as he saw a young boy, no older than 18? 19?, tied up with thick ropes around his wrists and ankles. He had nothing expect a pair of boxers on and from the way he was shivering Magnus could see he was cold.

Now that he noticed it, the temperature in the room was very chilly compared to rest of the institute. The boy had his eyes closed, he had black raven hair and white, pale, skin. There were a few runes etched into his skin, which made Magnus's confusion grow. _Why was his magic drawn to a Shadowhunter?_ He asked himself inside his head.

Magnus could see the wound marks on his wrist made by the ropes tying him up, and Magnus felt a rush of anger towards the Shadowhunters. He may not like the Shadowhunters but tying up their own kind this way? Seemed very harsh. He could see scars across the boy’s body and he guessed that this boy had been through a lot. The scars were everywhere, new and old. Some looked _very_ recent _,_ as they were dripping blood onto the bed. He slowly opened the ropes on his wrist, before moving towards his legs to untie his feet. As soon as he was done, the boy immediately curled up into himself and Magnus felt a sudden urge of empathy towards the boy and anger towards the people responsible for this. Even though this boy was a Shadowhunter, Magnus knew he _had_ to save him. 

He leaned forward, to gently shake the boy awake, when the boy’s eyes shot open and it felt like a puzzle piece fitting into place. He now saw the whole picture the puzzle pieces showed. 

His eyes weren’t an ordinary colour.

His eyes were red.

 _Dark_ red.

And Magnus felt himself take a step back. He had never seen that shade of colour associated with eyes before. Associated with _Shadowhunters._  Not even Vampires had that shade of red as their eyes. 

Then something clicked inside Magnus's head. 

That was the boy's _Warlock Mark._

The boy was a _Shadowhunter_.

But.

He was also a _Warlock_.

“Help me.” The boy rasped out, before falling into unconsciousness again.

 


	2. Confusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introductions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! The response I got from the first chapter was AMAZING!! I am glad you guys are liking this whole concept. 
> 
> Enjoy.

Magnus jumped into action, rushing back towards the boy. At first he didn’t know what to do. He was so confused, but he knew he had to help the boy so for now he pushed his raging thoughts aside and waved his hand around the boy’s wounds, closing them up. He healed the boy’s wrists and ankles, the skin on his wrists had ripped, due to the ruff ropes, and blood had dried up all around the skin.

The other wounds on his body would take longer for Magnus to heal, and he could hear footsteps which were getting louder and louder as they got closer to Magnus. He opened up a portal and grabbed the sleeping boy in his arms, in a bridal carry, and walked through the portal.   
The portal was just closing when the door of the bedroom banged open, and when Magnus looked over his shoulder, he saw a man with brown hair taking out his phone.

***

He stepped into his apartment, where he found Tessa, Cat and Ragnor waiting for him and all wearing anxious faces. But when they saw him step through the portal they all sighed in relief. Tessa and Magnus had decided to tell Cat and Ragnor together about the warlock trapped in the institute. But even Tessa didn’t know about the boy’s _other_ race.

He ignored his friends for now and walked into his bedroom, where he lay the boy on his bed. The boy was still shivering, so Magnus turned the heat up of the bedroom, with his magic. He walked back out of the room and saw his friends stand up, questions in their eyes. “I will explain everything but first, Cat I need you to heal all his wounds.” Magnus said. Since Cat was the doctor in the bunch, she knew best in how to heal. She nodded, solemnly and walked into his room with Magnus following behind. Tessa and Ragnor stayed in the living room.

When Cat walked closer, she gasped when she saw the runes on the boy’s body and she looked back at Magnus. “Magnus what – why?” She stammered over her words. Magnus only shook his head in reply. “I will tell you everything after you have healed him.” He said and luckily Cat didn’t argue and got to work.

Cat moved away the blanket and her eyes widened when she saw the cut marks on his skin. She moved her hands over the wounds and closed the skin back up. The cuts were everywhere, big and small. Some looked self inflicted, others didn’t. The older ones had left big ugly scars across his arms, chest, abdomen. There were burnt marks among the many cuts. Cat could see that the cuts were made by different kinds of blades. But it wasn’t just in his physical appearance, that she saw the abuse, her magic picked up on weird chemicals inside the boy’s body. “We need a potion.” She said and Magnus nodded. “Can you grab my bag, then is my spell book in there.” Magnus walked out of the room and quickly grabbed the book. After handing over the book, Cat flicked to the right page, before ordering Magnus to get the ingredients ready.

Magnus ran into his office and grabbed all the things he would need and after mixing them up, the way the book told him to, he brought the bowl to Cat, who gratefully took it from him. She gently lifted the boy’s sleeping head up and tiled the bowl so the boy was able to swallow.

The taste of the potion made the boy wake up and started to squirm away from drinking the liquid. Cat’s eyes widened when she saw the boy’s eyes but didn’t let it distract her from her task. “Magnus! Keep him still.” She shouted and Magnus quickly waved a hand over his body and calming him down with his magic. The boy stilled but remained awake and easily drank the potion.

After she was done, she waved her hand over his body once again and nodded to herself. “Okay so I have cleaned all his wounds, and the potion will make him sick so he can get rid of what ever they were giving him at the institute.” She spoke in her doctor voice and Magnus nodded as he listened. The boy seemed to be listening too, his eyes were wide with fear as he watched both Magnus and Catarina talk.

Magnus let go of him and the boy made a noise before sitting up. His face changed changed from frightened to weary. “I’m gonna be sick.” He mumbled and Magnus immediately magicked up a bucket in front of the boy, mere seconds before the boy emptied himself into the bucket. When he looked up again, both Magnus and Catarina saw his eyes change to a dull yellow. Magnus raised his eyebrows, Catarina mirroring his reaction. She opened her mouth and ask the boy his name, when the boy fell back, his head resting on the headboard, and falling asleep. Magnus realised the boy was still in a pair of boxers, so he magicked him into a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants from his own wardrobe.

***

The two warlocks stepped outside of the room and into the living room, where a worried looking Tessa was pacing and Ragnor who was sat and watching her. Magnus and Cat came and sat down and both Tessa and Ragnor looked at them in anticipation. “Well?” Tessa asked, when Magnus and Cat failed to speak. “What happened?”

Magnus sighed. “Yesterday, after searching for Ragnor.” He paused to give a pointed look to his friend who just grinned in return. “I saw a blue aura on the map.” Tessa already knew this part, but Cat and Ragnor didn’t so they leaned forward in interest. “The aura was at the institute and it was pulsing like it was in need of help. So I was going to call Tessa to make a plan in rescuing the boy. But I got called to the institute as the Lightwood parents needed a portal made to Idris.” Magnus paused and looked down at his hands. “Tessa and I came up with a plan. Tessa made the alarms inside the institute go off, distracting the Shadowhunters, so I could go look for the boy.” He sighed and rubbed his forehead, it had been a long day. “He was tied up, like how an animal is when he is about to get slaughtered. And he asked me to help him. I couldn’t just leave him there! So I made a portal and brought him here.”

As soon as he finished, there was silence, no one daring to break it. Everyone looked at Magnus with wide eyes. “But he isn’t an ordinary Shadowhunter.” Cat said and Magnus nodded in agreement.   
“Wait what do you mean?” Ragnor asked.   
“I think he is like… Tessa.” Magnus said and Tessa’s eyes grew wide.   
“Like m – me?” She asked and Magnus nodded. “Like half Shadowhunter, half warlock?” And Magnus nodded again.   
“But… he has a warlock Mark, something you don’t have.” Cat interrupted, looking at Tessa.   
“Yeah I thought his Warlock Mark was red eyes but… they changed to a dingy yellow colour.” Magnus said, his eyebrows furrowed.   
“Guess we will just have to wait and see what his actual warlock mark is when he wakes up.” Ragnor said and everyone nodded.   
“Come on. When he wakes he will need warm food.” Cat said, smiling at Magnus kindly and Magnus nodded. Cat and Magnus were the only two who could cook, Tessa was okay at it but Ragnor had been banned from entering the kitchen with the intention of cooking.

Ragnor switched on the tv, Magnus had in his apartment and the Chairman jumped onto his lap. Tessa followed Cat and Magnus into the kitchen. “So what’s his name?” Tessa asked. And Magnus shrugged. “I don’t know, I haven’t had a chance to ask him.” Magnus replied. “I just can’t believe that the Shadowhunters, Izzy and Jace, could be this cruel.” Both the girls nodded agreeing with Magnus.

They got to work, making chicken lasagna and as they cooked, the three warlocks talked and catched up since they hadn’t had a chance to hang out like this in a long time. Ragnor came to join them, just as Magnus was pulling out the lasagna from the oven. It felt good to have his friends over, as Magnus couldn’t remember the last time he had had this. Ragnor was telling his bad dad jokes and Cat was chastising him as usual, Tessa was laughing at the two’s playful banter and Magnus was rolling his eyes, pretending to be annoyed when they all knew he wasn’t really.

***   
Alec slowly blinked his eyes open, and saw a cat sitting on the bed staring at him. The cat was very small, and grey and very very cute. Alec slowly, not wanting to scare the animal, moved his hand for the cat to smell. The cat sniffed his hand before deciding to move closer and nuzzle into Alec’s cheek and giving him little kitten licks. Alec chuckled as the feeling tickled, but his smile soon dropped as he took in his surroundings. He wasn’t in his bedroom. He was… well… he didn’t know where he was. He could hear chatter laughter coming from out side the bedroom. Alec looked around, the bedroom was fancy and big. There were silk purple curtains covering the windows and a dressing table opposite the bed. The bed was in between two bedside tables.

“Where am I?” He whispered, mostly to himself but also to the cat. “Chairman Meow.” Alec read out the name tag. “I am Alec.” The chairman purred and nuzzled his nose into Alec’s hand. “I’ve never stroked a cat before.” Alec murmured and Chairman looked up at him, to show he was listening. “I’ve only read about them. Didn’t expect you to be so soft.” Alec smiled again and the needy cat purred, making Alec chuckle.

***   
Magnus watched Alec, from the doorway, and he smiled as he saw his cat bond with the stranger. He had left his friends in the kitchen to check up on the boy, and he was just at his door when he heard the boy talking and his needy cat meowing back. Magnus rolled is eyes fondly towards the cat and stepped into the room, cautiously. Not wanting to scare the boy.   
“You’re awake.” Magnus said, for the lack of anything else to say. The black haired man turned away from the cat and flinched away, his eyes wide with fear. It was then Magnus realised that the boy’s eyes had been pink a second ago, when he was talking to the Chairman, but when he looked at Magnus, the warlock saw the boy’s eyes change from a beautiful pink to a flaming red. “My name is Magnus Bane.” Magnus introduced himself and watched the boy’s expression carefully. However, his wide eyes and clenched jaw didn’t change.

“Why did you kidnap me Magnus Bane?” The boy spoke and Magnus felt himself raise an eyebrow. _Kidnap? Really_? He mentally groaned before answering. “Darling, I didn’t kidnap you.” Magnus started, slowly moving closer to the boy, but when he saw the boy stiffen, Magnus immediately stopped. “I saved you.”

Magnus watched the boy’s eyes, slowly change into the colour pink again, and he wondered what that was all about. “You saved me?” He asked, sounding very small and vulnerable. Magnus merely nodded. “Yeah I… Can I sit?” Magnus asked. The other boy looked hesitant before slowly nodding. Magnus sat down on the edge of the bed, opposite the boy, leaving a lot of space between them. “I was looking for my friend, I did a spell which showed me a map of this city and…” As Magnus told the boy the story, he watched how his facial expressions changed along with his eye colour.

“And you asked me to help you, so I made a portal and brought you here.” Magnus finished. He watched the boy look down at his hands. “Thank you.” He whispered. Magnus nodded.   
“Can I ask you something?” Magnus hesitantly asked and the boy looked up and nodded. “What’s your name?”

There was silence for a few moments, as the boy’s eyes nervously flickered between Magnus’s. “Alec Lightwood.” He finally whispered and Magnus felt his eyes grow wide and heart increase in pace. _Lightwood? As in… Maryse and Robert have another child? Who is a half warlock and half Shadowhunter?_

“You’re…. You’re a Lightwood?” Magnus asked, having a hard time masking his shock. Alec nodded and his eyes turned in a grey colour, making him look awfully sad, which made guilt gnaw in his insides. Magnus forced a smile on his face, deciding it was best to change the subject. “Hey.” He mumbled softly, getting Alec’s attention. “You hungry?”

Magnus watched as the greyness disappeared from Alec’s eyes and instead being replaced with light red, in excitement. He nodded eagerly and Magnus chuckled. He stood up from the bed and gestured with his hand for Alec to follow.

Alec stood up and followed Magnus into the kitchen. Where he saw three people chatting amongst each other. But when they noticed Alec and Magnus, they all stopped and turned to look at the two. “Everyone, this is Alec. Alec this is my friends; Tessa, Ragnor and Cat.” Magnus introduced, purposefully leaving Alec’s last name out. Alec didn’t seem to notice as he was too busy shyly returning the greetings, his friends were giving him.

After a few awkward attempts to get Alec to say anything more than “hi.” His friends decided it was best to take their leave so after hugging Magnus goodbye and waving at Alec, they left. Magnus knew it wasn’t Alec’s fault. From what he had seen, back at the institute, Alec hadn’t been allowed to get out and socialise with people.

“I’m sorry.” He looked away from the, now, closed door and at Alec, with surprise written on his face. He saw Alec’s eyes had turned grey again, and Magnus had a sudden urge to hug him, which he pushed down. “What ever are you apologising for, dear?” Magnus smiled, kindly. Alec frowned and looked towards his feet. “For… for being awkward around your friends. They must hate me now.” Alec replied.

Magnus’s eyebrows creased with concern. “Darling. I assure you they don’t hate you.” He said and Alec just silently shook his head. “Why? Everyone else does.” He murmured, so lowly, Magnus had to move forward to hear correctly and when he did he felt his heart break for the boy. Magnus opened his mouth a few times, but closed it, not knowing what to say.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, which included fidgeting on Alec’s side, Magnus sighed in resignation. “It’s been a long day. You must be tired. Why don’t you get some sleep? I will show you to the guest room.” He suggested. Alec’s eyes widened, comically and Magnus was almost worried he would hurt his eyes with how much they were widening. “I… don’t understand.” Alec said, wearing a confused look on his face.   
“Don’t understand what, dear?” Magnus asked, not quite understanding, himself.   
“I’m staying? _Here_?” Alec asked and Magnus nodded.   
“Of course. I said I would help you. And letting you live here is me helping you.” Magnus replied. Alec was still wearing his confused expression and it made Magnus wonder what Alec had been through in order to have major trust issues. "Unless. You don't want to stay here?" Magnus asked, feeling nervous. But Alec shook his head. 

"No it's not that, it's just..." He trailed off, and shook his head. "Never mind."  Magnus wanted to know what Alec had wanted to say but decided it was best not to push. 

“Come on.” Magnus turned and walked towards the guest room. Alec slowly followed.

After magicking up all the toiletries Alec would need, including his sleeping clothes and clothes for the next day, Magnus left Alec to get settled in.

He walked to his own room, and collapsed onto his bed and let out an long sigh. Alec wasn’t the only one who was feeling confused and tired. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I left a few clues about what Alec's warlock Mark is, or rather how it works.  
> Any guesses? I'm sure you are all smart enough to have figured it out already. 
> 
> I hope y'all enjoyed.


	3. Warlock marks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!! Sorry for a very late update. But college has started and it's already very stressful. But having said that I will TRY to be as regular as possible. 
> 
> Anyways hope y'all enjoy.

“He is gone.”   
“What do you mean he is gone?” Shrieked the voice.   
“I mean he is _gone_. He isn’t in his room and when I walked in I saw a warlock step through a portal, carrying Alexander.”  
“I will be there as soon as I can.” Replied the voice before the called ended.

***

Magnus groaned awake, to the sound of his alarm blaring. He squinted his eyes open and immediately closed them when the light of the sun hit him, harshly. He had been very tired last night, so tired that he had forgotten to close the curtains, or to change into his night clothes. He groaned and got up and walked into his attached bathroom, where after shedding his clothes, he stepped into the shower and sighed as the warmth of the water relaxed his sore muscles. The memories from the previous day came rushing back, making Magnus instantly rush the rest of his shower to go see Alec.

He stepped out of the bedroom, and after getting changed, he walked up to the boy’s bedroom door. It was closed, so Magnus lightly knocked but when he got no reply he rolled his eyes and opened the door. Magnus cautiously stepped inside but his heart dropped when he saw the bed was empty. And no Alec in sight. He ran out of the room and into the living room, and kitchen but Alec was nowhere to be seen. “Alec?” He called out but got no reply. Magnus felt panic rise at the back of his throat, he hadn’t expected Alec to run away. He hadn’t expected him to be so _stupid_.

Magnus quickly recited the spell that showed him the map of New York City and as he did so he realised he had opened up the map so many times in the last two days than he had in his whole life. He immediately recognised Alec’s aura on the map and sighed in relief when he found him. He rushed out of his apartment and towards the place Alec was currently at.

When he arrived at Central Park, he spotted Alec, almost immediately, sat on one of the park benches. Beside him sat a woman, who from the looks of it, seemed like she was talking with Alec. Magnus ran towards Alec and called out his name, making the younger boy look up at him. His eyes widened in surprise at seeing Magnus, before he casually waved him over. Magnus gasped at the realisation that Alec’s eyes were glamoured into a pair or beautiful baby blues. He was shocked at the fact that Alec knew _how_ to do glamour magic. He pushed the feeling away and glared at Alec. He couldn't help but notice the small panicky look in Alec's eyes.   
“What are you doing here?” Magnus asked, feeling very frustrated. He hadn’t even had his coffee yet. Before Alec could answer, the woman he was sat with spoke up. “Who is this?” She asked with a frown on her face. Magnus rolled his eyes and looked at the woman. She was young, probably in her mid twenties. She had brown hair and and green eyes.

 _Mundane_.

“I am his boyfriend and I have been worried sick.” Magnus blurted out. He didn’t know what made him say that, but the way the girl had asked the question, made Magnus want to pull her hair out. There was something about her that just annoyed Magnus. Maybe it was the fact that Alec had left without telling him where he was going, or that fact that he went out in the first place. Either way, his mood didn't lighten. Alec’s eyes widened when Magnus called him his boyfriend but luckily he stayed quiet and smiled, a fake smile, at the woman. The woman huffed, letting go of Alec’s hand, and walked away.

Alec let out a relieved sigh and Magnus raised an eyebrow, wondering what had happened before he had arrived. But his frustration from earlier, which had momentarily disappeared, had come back again. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going out? Why did you leave? Are you running away? Is this your way of running away?” Magnus asked. He knew he needed to calm himself but he was just too worked up.

“What? No. Why would I want to run away? I-I haven’t been outside in _years_. I forgot what it felt like. I just… Im sorry I didn’t tell you. You were asleep and I didn’t want to wake you.” Alec looked at Magnus with apologetic eyes and Magnus felt himself soften. He scolded himself for sounding too harsh and smiled at the boy. “Oh.” Magnus muttered, feeling stupid. “Who was that woman?” He then asked, deciding to change the topic. Alec rolled his eyes, before answering. “I have no idea! I was sitting here, minding my own business when she came and sat down and started to talk to me. Or rather, at me. Since I wasn’t even participating in the conversation. And when I tried to tell her to leave me alone, she grabbed my hand and wouldn’t let go. So glad you came when you did and told her you were my... b-boyfriend. Otherwise god knows what she would have done.” Alec shuddered as he recalled the memory and Magnus couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Why are you laughing?” Alec asked, making Magnus laugh even harder.

Once he calmed down, he looked at Alec’s, beetroot red, face and smiled. “She probably thought you were handsome and was flirting with you.” Magnus said and he watched in amusement as the boy’s face turned from embarrassment to surprise. “ _Flirting_?” He asked. “With… _me_?” And to Magnus’s surprise Alec started to laugh. He threw his head back and Magnus swallowed as he saw Alec’s eyes shine and throat bob with laughter. “Yeah right.” He replied after his laughter died down.

Magnus didn’t have a chance to ask what he meant by that, because he suddenly stood up. “I’m hungry.” He stated. Magnus nodded in agreement and stood up too. He realised that Alec was slightly taller than Magnus, which never happened since Magnus was pretty tall himself. “Let’s go back to my apartment.” Magnus suggested and sighed in relief when Alec agreed.

Magnus knew that being out of his apartment, where his wards were, wasn’t safe for Alec. Not when he was _just_ freed. Not when there was a possibility that the people who locked him up could be looking for him. Magnus made a portal and they both walked through it. “You have to teach me how to do that!” Alec exclaimed, his eyes shining brightly and childlike. Magnus raised an eyebrow.

Speaking of magic.

“Who taught you how to glamour your eyes?” Magnus asked bluntly. Alec flinched in surprise at the mention of his Warlock Mark and unconsciously took a step back. His eyes dropped the glamour and turned into a dark orange colour. Magnus was surprised at his reaction. “I- I… I don’t remember.” Alec lied, albeit terribly since Magnus knew he wasn’t telling the truth. But he decided not to comment on it and just shrugged in response, before making his way towards the kitchen to make breakfast. “What would you like to eat? Waffles? Pancakes? Toast?” Magnus asked, flicking on the switch to his coffee machine. Even though he could just snap food into his hands anytime, he liked the mundane way of making it. He liked cooking. It was calming.

Magnus turned to look at Alec, who was wearing an confused look on his face. “I… don’t know – I don’t know what any of that is.” Alec muttered and Magnus sighed. Half in annoyance towards the people who tied Alec up and half in sympathy towards the boy. He walked closer to Alec and smiled gently. “Hey, it’s okay.” He soothed. “Since you don’t know what any of it is, I will choose… Kay?” Magnus asked and Alec nodded.

He made waffles, enough for both of them and once Magnus showed Alec the different toppings one can put on waffles, Alec dug in and Magnus watched in amusement as his facial expressions changed every time he took a bite.

Alec couldn’t believe something could taste so _good_. He was used to eating simple plain food. Like plain white rice or brown bread, which tasted like cardboard meaning it had no taste. He never knew there was more to food. So much more. The sweetness of the blueberry syrup mixed with the waffle, seemed to explode inside his mouth. His tongue felt like doing a happy dance as for the first time, in forever, he felt satisfied as he ate. He couldn’t stop himself from asking for more, it had been over a day since he last anything and he was starving.

Magnus didn’t mind, he placed more waffles on the boy’s plate and smiled. Alec was very skinny and Magnus guessed that it was because they didn’t feed him properly, just enough for the boy to stay alive. So the fact that he was eating properly, for once, made Magnus happy.   
“I’m glad you’re enjoying it.” Magnus spoke up and Alec nodded.   
“It’s so good.” He replied making the older man chuckle.

***   
Isabelle looked away from her desk and the sound of knocking on the door. “Come in!” She said and the door opened to reveal her brother, Jace. “Iz. I just got a fire message from mother and father. They are on their way back here.” Jace said and Izzy raised an eyebrow.   
“But they only just left,” she replied and Jace shrugged.   
“Apparently it is an _urgent_ matter. They didn’t elaborate any further.” Jace replied and Izzy sighed. Having their parents back was always difficult. They demanded things in a certain way that made Izzy want to strangle them or herself, which ever was more satisfying. Izzy nodded, acknowledging the news. “When do they arrive?” She asked. Jace grimaced.   
“In a few hours.”

***

“Where’s Chairman Meow?” Alec asked. They were both sat on the sofa, attempting to watch tv. Well, _Magnus_ was attempting to watch tv. But he kept getting distracted because Alec kept fidgeting. At the sound of his name, the cat appeared and crawled into Alec’s lap. Alec’s eyes filled with a light yellow colour as his face turned into a joyful expression. “Here you are.” He murmured to the cat, stroking his fur and giggled, a small childish laugh, as the Chairman purred. Magnus smiled and turned back to the tv.

They sat there in silence, minus the voices coming from the tv. “You have eyes like Chairman.” Alec stated, out of the blue, startling Magnus. He turned to look at Alec and nodded. “Yeah… that’s my Warlock Mark.. my cat eyes.” Magnus explained.   
“I’ve read about them.” Alec replied. “Warlock marks.” Magnus raised his eyebrows.

“When did your Warlock Mark come?” Magnus asked. He prepared himself to get a lie as a answer. But was pleasantly surprised when Alec answered. “I was seven when my… w-warlock Mark came… I… I was playing in the garden with my sister… Isabelle.” Alec sighed as he said his sister’s name after a long time. “She was only two years old at the time and couldn’t defend herself when the demon came out from nowhere. We were inside the institute wards so it shouldn’t have been able to come through. But it did. And when it did I tried to protect Isabelle from it, by screaming for my parents to come. I didn’t know how to fight the demon off since I was just starting my training. Luckily my mother came… and fought off the demon before embracing me and Isabelle in a hug, asking to see if we were okay. But… then… she saw my eyes. They were bright red and not the baby blues they used to be. My eyes… they change colour depending on my emotion, I’m sure you had already guessed that.” Magnus _hadn’t_ guessed it but he knew something was different about his Warlock Mark.

Alec paused and pushed the chairman off of his lap and curled his legs up, bringing them up to his chest. “My mother… took me into my room, locked me in and ever since then I was trapped inside that room, whilst people came in and out examining me. Making me drink things that smelt funny and made me sleepy.” Alec was staring a hole into the wall with his intense gaze. “They would… give me books and toys to play with at first. But as I grew older… they grew afraid of me and the toys and books stopped coming. They said that knowledge is power and that I shouldn’t be allowed such a thing. So… I was left with the same books I had received as a child. Read them over and over… until I knew every word inside.” Alec didn’t know why he told Magnus all that, as he only knew the other warlock for a couple of days. But he was tired of keeping it bottled inside.

He didn’t know he was crying until he felt his tears roll down his cheek and drop onto his hand. Magnus saw his eyes had changed into a pair of grey orbs and it reminded Magnus of when he had asked him his name and Alec had told him he was Maryse’s son. “Hey…” Magnus whispered, shuffling closer to the younger man. Alec blinked away his tears and turned to look and Magnus. “You’re okay. You’re going to be okay. You’re safe now and I won’t let anything or anyone put you in that place again.” Magnus stated, his voice calm and confident which made Alec almost believe him.

Almost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you think? thank you all for your lovely comments since they mean a lot to me and help me build this story further.


	4. It's you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maryse and Robert return!  
> Alec is an adorable little cupcake.  
> Jace and Izzy do some investigating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Loved reading your comments. You guys are amazing.  
> Hope you enjoy this chapter!!

Maryse walked into the institute with her head held high, heels clicking onto the marble floor and disturbing the eerie silence that had settled on the institute. Robert was at her side, and he too wore a solemn look, his eyes were raging as they swept across the bodies of the room. Isabelle walked out of her office, she wore a red dress that made her look elegant but sexy, her hair was tide back into a messy bun and she wore six inch stilettos, making her look like she was ready to walk down a runway. “Isabelle.” Maryse greeted and stepped forward to embrace her daughter in a hug.  
“Hello mother.” Isabelle returned the greeting, putting on her best fake smile. Jace walked in and shook hands with Robert before he too embraced Maryse into a hug. “What brings you back so soon?” Jace asked and saw how both his parents stiffened at his question.  
“We have some… personal matters to attend to.” Robert answered before reaching for Maryse’s hand and walked away, leaving Izzy and Jace standing in the entry way with their eyes wide. “Something is going on.” Jace said as he and Izzy watched their parents walking away.  
“Agreed.”

***

“You have a lot of books.” Alec randomly pointed out. After his breakdown, Magnus had decided to distract Alec with a movie but he could feel the movie wasn’t really working since the boy was still tense. Magnus turned his gaze away from the tv and toward his bookshelf. He _did_ have a lot of books. “Yeah… I guess I do.” Magnus realised. When he looked at Alec, he could see the yearning in his eyes to reach out and touch said books. “You want to read them?” He asked and saw Alec’s eyes widen comically. He started to shake his head before seeming to change his mind and nodded fiercely. Magnus smiled and made a ‘go ahead’ gesture with his hands, he was just about to open his mouth and give permission verbally when Alec stood up and practically ran the the bookshelf.

Magnus rolled his eyes fondly and watched how Alec, hesitant at first, touched the books with care and gentleness. Brushing his fingers along the spines. He let out a deep breath as his, light red, eyes scanned over the titles, lips shaped into a small but visible smile.

Magnus had never witnessed something or rather some one so…innocent. Someone who genuinely received happiness from something so _mundane_ as books. He watched as Alec brushed past every book until his hand stopped on one that Magnus knew all too well.

_Looking for Alaska_

It had been his favourite for some time. And it seemed Alec favoured it too. He looked back at Magnus, his eyes asking for permission to which Magnus nodded. Alec, gently, took the book out of its place from the shelf and walked back to the sofa. “I… I was reading this before… well… before my mo-“ he paused, closed his eyes and took a deep breath as if calming himself down. When he opened them again, Magnus saw they had changed into dark purple orbs, looking incredibly sad. “Before Maryse.” Alec corrected. “Took it away from me.”

Magnus felt a pang of pity for the boy. “You can read any book you like, which includes that one.” Magnus replied and watched Alec’s face brighten.

“Okay.” Alec nodded.

***

Izzy and Jace followed their parents, discreetly, until they stood outside their bedroom door. Jace took his stele out to activate his hearing rune, Izzy following suit. Voice filled their ears, voices they recognised very well.  
“I don’t understand! What was that warlock doing here in the first place!” Maryse yelled.  
“ _You_ needed him to portal you to Idris!” Hodge replied, also shouting.  
‘Magnus?’ Izzy mouthed to Jace who only shrugged in response.  
“Don’t you _dare_ blame this on me! He is _your_ son.” Hodge continued.

Both Izzy and Jace flinched as the sound of a slap echoed through out the room. “Don’t you dare call him my son!” Maryse replied. Izzy and Jace’s eyes were wide with shock.  
“Who is she talking about?” Izzy whispered to Jace, whose eyes had gone glassy.  
“Me.” He murmured back, lost in a trance. Izzy shook her head.  
“No. It can’t be. Mother loves you. You are her son.” Izzy reasoned but Jace merely shook his head.  
“Well it can't be Max. Izzy, who else can she be talking about?” Jace replied. And Izzy stilled at his words.

“Maryse. All we can do is find Alexander and bring him back. There is no point in fighting and arguing.” Robert spoke up for the first time. Izzy felt her heart beat increase as she heard the name. _That name. I’ve heard that name before._ Izzy thought.

“You are right.” Maryse agreed.  
“It’s not about you.” Izzy whispered to Jace who had also heard and seemed to be breathing somewhat normally again. “We need to lure him out.” Maryse said and moved to open the bedroom door, giving the two siblings mere seconds to move away from the door and turn the corner of the corridor, hiding from their parents. Jace and Izzy were both too busy looking at their parents and Hodge walk out of the room to notice a small figure step up behind them. “Whatcha doing?”

Both Izzy and Jace let out a startled squeal at the sudden appearance of their little brother, Max. “What the hell Max?” Jace asked and the tiny Shadowhunter only smirked in response. “You tell anyone I made that noise, I will sell your makeup online!” Jace threatened to Izzy who was covering her mouth with her hand, to stop herself from laughing. Izzy mimed sealing her lips closed and winked. Jace just rolled his eyes. “Okay. So what’s the plan?” Jace asked, changing the subject.

“What’s the plan for what?” Max asked. And Izzy quickly but subtly shook her head at Jace.  
“Er… we are going on patrol.” Jace stammered and Max frowned.  
“You’re lying to me,” Max accused, squinting his eyes towards Jace.  
“Max. You’re still too young to know about this so I’m sorry but us not telling you the truth is for your own benefit, okay?” Izzy replied, gently and Max sighed but nodded. “Good boy.” Izzy smiled and ruffled her little brother’s hair, making the younger one giggle.

After Max got called by their mother, Jace and Izzy walked into Izzy’s room to figure out what they were going to do about the new found information. “We should go to Magnus. Before mum and dad do.” Izzy suggested and Jace nodded.  
“But what do you think they meant by what they said?” Jace asked slowly. Izzy was about to shrug her shoulders but stopped. “Okay so this might sound crazy but I have heard of the name Alexander before.” Jace’s eyes widened.  
“What? Where?” He rushed out. Izzy sighed and twirled her hair around her finger.  
“I sometimes have this dream. A dream where I am a child and I am with a small boy. We are playing in the garden of the institute and a demon comes. The boy tries to protect me, but… he can’t. Luckily mother comes and kills the demon. She calls the little boy… ‘Alexander’ when she checks to see if he is okay... every now and then this dream comes back to haunt me, leaving me spooked every time. And now… hearing mother say that name… It’s just a coincidence… right?” Her voice wobbled with uncertainty. Jace shook his head. “We are going to find out what mum and dad are hiding.” Jace firmly announced and Izzy nodded.

***

“Alexander, look like this.” Magnus showed Alec how to wrap the noodles around his folk and Alec smiled nervously and copied the action. Magnus decided to order in Chinese and since Alec had never had food like this, Magnus had the pleasure of seeing Alec’s face turn into joy every time he took a bite. “Does it hurt?” Alec broke the silence. Magnus raised his eyebrows, not quite understanding what Alec meant. “Does it hurt to use your magic?” Alec elaborated.  
“No. It doesn’t hurt. But it does make me very tired if I have used up a lot in a day.” Magnus replied. “Why are you asking?”  
Alec didn’t reply straight away, just moved around the noodles on his plate with his folk. “I… I guess I thought that… well they said that magic would hurt me. They said that my magic would kill me.” Magnus didn’t ask Alec to elaborate on ‘they’ as he knew he meant everyone at the institute.

Magnus sighed and placed his folk down before speaking. “Your magic is apart of you. It is there to protect you and comfort you when needed. Your magic can never hurt you because it’s a part of you. The reason why… they told you these things was because with your magic you can be a very powerful being. Someone who would break out of the chains they had tied you up in, in a heart beat. They fed you lies so you would be under their control.” Magnus wondered for a brief moment if he was coming out as too harsh but then he felt like Alec needed to hear this, in order for him to understand. “They fed you lies, so you can be weak… and you, Alexander are _not_ weak.” Alec’s eyes swirled into a dark orange colour and Magnus could tell that Alec didn’t really believe him. But he knew that these things took time.

“You know Alec. You are not alone in this world.” Magnus started. “Do you remember Tessa?” Alec nodded. “Well… she is like you too. A half warlock and half Shadowhunter.” Alec’s eyes grew comically grew wide. “R-really?” Alec asked and Magnus nodded.  
“Yeah. If you want I can tell her to come and talk to you?” Alec nodded.  
“Yeah! That would be… amazing.”  
Magnus smiled and nodded back, watching a giddy laugh escape Alec’s lips.

***

They decided to retire to their bedroom early, well… Alec went to his bedroom early. Magnus was working on a potion in the living room. He almost dropped said potion at the sound of the doorbell ringing loudly throughout the apartment. Magnus groaned. Even though it wasn’t late, it was still late enough for anyone to be knocking on his door. He walked up to the door and swung it open to reveal Isabelle and Jace Lightwood. His first thought was to slam the door in their faces, grab Alec and portal themselves to France. But then he noticed the desperation on their faces and he sighed and let them in.

Izzy and Jace sat down on the sofa, looking around the apartment. “Magnus.” Izzy started.  
“Isabelle.”  
“I… we have something to ask you.” Magnus noticed that the young Shadowhunter looked tired, and yet looking fabulous in her six inches heels. “Go a head darling.” Magnus replied. Izzy nodded. “Okay so today my mother and –“  
“Magnus. I think Chairman is hungry or something because he keeps trying to eat my book.” Alec walked into the room and froze when he saw the two strangers with Magnus. His cheeks filled up with a blush and eyes turned a light shade of blue. “I- I’m sorry… I didn’t realise you had guests.” He apologised.

Izzy stood up slowly and looked at Alec with wide eyes. “It’s you.” She whispered and Alec’s face turned into a confused look.  
Magnus gulped before standing up and walked to stand beside Alec. “Alexander, meet Isabelle and Jace Lightwood. Isabelle, Jace… this is Alexander."

"Your brother.”

Everyone froze at the introductions and silence was the loudest sound in the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoopsiess.... there is a lot of explaining to be done.... 
> 
> Sooo....??? What did y'all think???


	5. Remember me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyy guys!!! 
> 
> I’m really glad you’re enjoying this story. I really like writing it. 
> 
> This story WON’T be 10 chapters like my other stories, as I feel like I need to make it longer for the slow burn to take place. 
> 
> Anyways... hope you will enjoy!!

No one seemed to be breathing, even Magnus. Alec’s eyes were wide with shock and something that looked a lot like fear. His eyes had turned into a neutral grey colour, showing no emotion for the first time, since Magnus met him. When the Lightwood siblings saw the colour change, they gasped and Magnus felt Alec stiffen and almost immediately, Alec glamoured his eyes, into the baby blues Magnus had seen him do once before. Magnus took a step forward towards the siblings, in a protective stance as he could see they were making Alec uncomfortable. “Okay. Why don’t we sit down?” He suggested. No one moved.

“Now.” Magnus rolled his eyes and slowly, almost robotically, everyone walked towards the sofas and sat down. Izzy and Jace’s eyes were wide with awe and shock and Izzy had tears running down her face. Alec just looked confused. Izzy and Jace sat on one sofa, whilst Magnus and Alec sat on the other.

“Okay… so...” Magnus started but stopped when he didn’t know where to begin.

“You’re my… brother.” Jace whispered. Alec eyed him, narrowing his eyes.

“Your name is… Alexander Lightwood. Right?” Izzy asked, even though Magnus had already said it. She _needed_ to hear it from the boy. Alec nodded, albeit hesitantly. “I’m… my name is Isabelle Lightwood and I am your-“  
“Is- Isabelle?” Alec’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open. “Izzy? You’re… but… I… you’re here?….” Alec stuttered, his breaths becoming heavy. Magnus gently placed his hand on his knee showing comfort should Alec decide to take it. Alec flinched at the sudden contact but calmed down after a few seconds. Izzy gave Alec a watery smile as her eyes filled up with tears. “You remember me?” She asked and Alec scoffed.  
“How could I forget you?” He asked. “I’m surprised you remember _me_.” Izzy’s eyes filled with more tears. “How… H-how are you here? I thought you forgot about me, like everyone else.” Alec stammered, still not over the shock. Izzy was now fully crying and she let out a sob, which she tried to cover with her hand. Jace placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to offer comfort. “I… I’m so sorry. Alec I failed you.” Izzy sobbed and Alec’s eyes widened. He slowly stood up and walked over to where Izzy was sat. He sat beside her and awkwardly placed his hand on her other shoulder. He wasn’t used to comforting some one, let alone his sister who he hadn’t seen in years.

Since Izzy was having trouble keeping her sobs out of her sentences, Jace took the liberty to explain everything. How they found out about Alec. What their parents planned to do. “And then Max heard us and…”  
“Whose Max?” Alec asked, looking like a lost puppy. Jace smiled sadly at Alec.

“He is your other brother. He is nine years old. Very mischievous and is always getting in to trouble by setting this on fire.” Jace chuckled. Even Izzy smiled at the description of her baby brother. Alec just looked down at his fingers, which lay on his legs. Magnus noticed his eyes let go of his glamour for a second as they turned into grey orbs, before Alec realised his glamour was down and placed it back up. Magnus gave Jace an annoyed look, as he had upset Alec. When Jace realised that, he opened his mouth to apologise, to say something, _anything_ , to cover up the awkward silence that had settled over them. “When did… when did Maryse and Robert adopt you.” Alec asked, surprising everyone in the room. Jace cleared his throat. “When I was ten my parents died and Robert and my father were very close friends, so they took me in.” Jace replied. Alec nodded.

No one knew what else to say after that. Their conversation had sort of died. Alec was looking down at his hands, not meeting anyone’s eye. Izzy and Jace seemed to be having a conversation with their eyes and Magnus was looking worriedly at Alec. He cleared his throat. “Well, it’s late. I think you guys should go. Alexander is tired and so am I.” Magnus spoke up. Izzy nodded and stood up but Jace remained seated and shook his head. “Are you throwing us out, _Warlock_?” He asked. Everyone in the room saw Alec flinch, visibly.

Magnus understood why. Although he had made peace with the fact that people who thought they were better than him, will call him names because of his demon side, Alec hadn’t. And hearing the word again, even though it wasn’t directed to him, sent fear and resentment through Alec’s bones.

Jace and Izzy were both confused as to why Alec had flinched. Both Alec and Magnus hadn’t had the chance to tell Izzy and Jace _why_ Maryse had him locked up. Well, Magnus had remembered, but purposely didn’t bring the topic up since it wasn’t his secret to tell. “Alec… before we go… why did mother lock you up for all these years? And… and your eyes…? Izzy asked, her tone calm and soothing, trying to calm her brother down. Alec’s eyes widened and he sent a panicked _help me_ look towards Magnus.

Magnus understood straight away. He subtly nodded at Alec and thought of something to change the topic whilst not making it sound too obvious. “Look, guys I know you want to get to know Alec more and ask him questions but right now he is tired. You can come back when ever you want and spend time with him. But right now it’s getting late.” Izzy sighed in disappointment, not getting her answer but much to Magnus’s relief, she nodded reluctantly. Jace also nodded and the two Lightwoods walked towards the front door. Izzy turned around and stepped towards Alec. “Here.” She handed over a piece of paper to Alec, with numbers on it. Alec raised an eyebrow, clearly confused as to why Izzy was giving him two rows of numbers with their names written on it. “It’s mine and Jace’s phone number. You can call us anytime you want.” Izzy said. Alec opened his mouth to tell her that he didn’t have a phone when Izzy closed the distance and swung her arms around his neck. Alec froze, before slowly moving one arm around her and hugged her back, albeit awkwardly.

They stayed like that for a few more seconds, before she moved away and Jace stepped forward and smiled a small smile at him, whilst patting him on the shoulder. “Bye, Alec.” The two Lightwoods said before walking out of the door.

After the door shut behind them, Alec stared at it numbly. _He had siblings. He had siblings who came to see him. He had siblings who possibly cared about him._  
“You okay?” Magnus broke Alec out of his thoughts. Alec slowly turned to face Magnus and stared at the warlock. “No.” He answered and Magnus nodded, not surprised.  
“You will be.” Magnus replied, with such confidence that left Alec confused.  
“How do you know?” He asked. Magnus smiled gently.  
“I just do.” He replied, with a twinkle in his eye.

Alec simply nodded and started to make his way towards his bedroom. “Why didn’t you tell them?” Magnus asked. Referring to Alec not telling their siblings of the reason behind him being locked up. Alec froze and slowly turned around to look at Magnus. He had let his glamour fall, revealing dark purple eyes. “I didn’t want to think any less of their mother.” Alec replied and Magnus’s eyes widened in shock.  
“After all she has done to you. You still protect her?” Magnus asked, hearing the bewilderment in his own voice. “Yes.” Alec answered and that was that. Alec turned around and continued to walk back to his room, closing the door and leaving Magnus standing alone in the living room, too shocked to move.  
  
***

The moment Alec closed the door, he felt himself combust and he let the tears, that he was trying so hard to keep at bay, fall. He didn’t know why he kept lying to Magnus. The person who had freed him. He wanted to tell Magnus the _real_ reason why he didn’t want to tell his siblings the truth. He wanted to tell Magnus that he was scared. He was scared of their reaction to him. He had seen their reaction to his eyes. _What would they do if they found out why that happened?_  
He couldn’t, wouldn’t tell them the truth about their parents. He couldn’t deprive them of their parents, by telling them the ugly truth. Alec knew how it felt like, to look at your parents like they are your whole world, but then realise they are really twisted, and sick people.

It had taken _years_ for Alec to accept the fact that his mother and father had kept him locked up because they were ashamed to have a hybrid child. It had taken Alec _years_ to accept the fact they were never going to love him. That things would never be the same again.

He slid down the door and brought his knees up to his chest and he cried into his knees. His tears were soaking through the jeans he was wearing. His head pounded and his eyes were blotchy and red. He felt himself shaking from the cold. But this wasn’t the cold you would feel from the weather. This cold was from the  _inside_  of Alec. The cold that followed him everywhere he went. The cold that would never leave him alone.

Alec cried and cried, until the tears stopped coming and he fell asleep, on the floor of his room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well.... what did y’all think?


	6. Snoop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izzy and Jace are up to something. 
> 
> Clary is mentioned! 
> 
> Alec and Magnus become closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow... I’m actually doing fast updates. Hehe 
> 
> I feel like writing short chapters are much better than longs ones, since they get done quicker which means I can upload them quicker. Which means you guys don’t have to wait very long. 
> 
> So it’s a win win situation.
> 
> Also IT’S THIS STORY’S ONE MONTH ANNIVERSARY! WOAH Time goes fast.

Alec woke to sunshine hitting his face and a wet tongue licking his nose and forehead. He groaned as he opened his eyes and saw Chairman Meow staring back at him. He smiled a dopey smile at the cat and gently ran his hands through the cat’s fur. Chairman Meow purred, making Alec chuckle.

It was then that he realised, he was in a very uncomfortable position. Sometime during the night, he must have moved into laying down side ways on the floor, with his knees squished to his chest. He slowly moved his legs away from his chest and groaned when he felt his whole body cramp up and moan in protest. He had never slept on the floor before and now he knew why. He forced himself to stand and walked slowly into the bathroom that was attached to his bedroom.

His eyes widened when he saw his face in the mirror. His eyes were red rimmed and swollen. His lips were bruised and bleeding, from all the biting Alec had done. His cheeks were puffed and red and his hair looked like a birds nest.

_Well… the last one wasn’t really any different to normal days._

Alec stripped of his clothes and stepped into the shower, and sighed as the warmth of the water soothed his sore muscles. He washed his hair and body, before rinsing himself and walking out of the shower.

He was putting on his shirt when the door knocked, making Alec flinch. “Alexander? Are you awake?” Magnus asked. Alec nodded before realising Magnus couldn’t see him.

“Yeah. Just getting changed.” Alec replied.  
Magnus murmured an “okay”before walking away. He looked into the mirror and saw that his face had returned, somewhat, back to normal. He could still see the slight puffiness around his eyes and his lips were still bruised but at least they weren’t bleeding anymore.

He opened his door, which was slightly ajar, and walked towards the kitchen. He saw Magnus making breakfast and felt his stomach growl in hunger. “Morning Alexander.” Magnus greeted. Alec smiled back. “Morning.”

Magnus was making pancakes and as he poured the mixture, Alec watched him in amazement, wanting to know how to cook. “Why don’t you just snap food?” Alec asked. Magnus shrugged.  
“I like _making_ food. And sometimes doing things the mundane way are so much more fun than snapping.” He replied and Alec nodded acknowledging his answer. Alec set out the plates and glasses, and finished just in time for Magnus to bring the pancakes to the table.

“So… how did you sleep?” Magnus asked, conversationally. Alec’s face reddened.

“I… it was okay.” he lied and Magnus nodded, having a troubled look on his face but he forced a smile. “I was thinking.” Magnus started. “That we could go to the park today?” Alec’s eyes lit up and he nodded eagerly. He loved the outside. He loved nature. Magnus beamed before continuing to eat his breakfast. They ate in comfortable silence.

***  
“Jace. I think we need to talk to mother and father.” Izzy said. Jace had been training, punching the punching bag, letting all his anger out. He shook his head. “No. Iz. I don’t think they will tell us the truth. And Magnus saved Alec from being locked up and from the sounds of it, mother and father want him locked up again and if we start asking questions, they will know we know something. What if they make us use the soul sword and get the truth out? Alec will be in trouble. We need to protect him.”  
Izzy nodded, understanding her brother. “So what do we do?” She asked.  
Jace smirked.  
“We snoop.”

***

They slowly walked along the path, walking close but not close enough to be touching. “What’s your favourite colour?” Alec asked. Magnus smiled. Alec’s innocence was simply adorable. “Blue.” He answered. “What about you?”

Alec looked like he was thinking for a second before answering. “Orange… like the sunset.” He replied. Magnus hummed in agreement as the sunset’s colour was beautiful. Magnus watched Alec’s face as he watched the mundanes walk by. Some of them were on their phones, talking or texting. “Izzy and Jace gave me their number.” Alec said. “I… don’t have a phone.”

Magnus stopped walking, and Alec followed suit. “Come on. I know a good phone shop near by.” He said and Alec nodded and following the warlock. 

After buying a new phone, they continued their walk. “Can I see your Warlock Mark ?” Alec asked, sounding genuinely interested. Magnus was surprised at his sudden question. “Why do you ask?” Magnus asked, delaying the inevitable of showing him his Warlock Mark. “Because that day I met your friends, I could see Cat’s Warlock Mark of having blue skin and Ragnor with his green skin. So I guess I’m curious to see yours.” Alec answered. “Unless… you don’t want me to see it. Be- because that’s fine. I was just…I…”

“Alec.” Magnus interrupted. “It’s okay.” Alec sighed in relief. Magnus lowered his glamour to reveal Warlock Mark and looked at Alec, revealing gold cat eyes. He suddenly felt naked and vulnerable. Alec was looking at him with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open. “Magnus…” Alec breathed. “Magnus. They are beautiful.” Magnus smiled warmly at the boy, not expecting his reaction to be this. He stayed silent, as he watched Alec look at him. “Thank you Alexander. So are yours.” Magnus watched Alec bite his swollen bottom lip and closed his eyes. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

Alec slowly opened his eyes and let out a sigh. “Why am like this? Why am I different?” He asked, with a pleading look in his eyes. Magnus opened his mouth to speak but no words came out, not knowing how to answer Alec’s question. After a few seconds of silence, Alec sighed again. “Can we go back now?” He asked.

“Of course.” Magnus replied and made a portal back to the loft.

*** 

Izzy snuck into her office, that her parents had taken over since their arrival. She activated her soundless rune before walking around the room looking out for something that stood out or looked odd. She knew she had to be quick since Jace was busy distracting their parents and knew he couldn’t hold them off for long.

She walked around the room and behind the desk. Before Izzy was promoted to the head of the institute position and had gotten this office, this office was her parents. When they had given it to her Maryse had warned her to never open the drawer at the bottom of the desk. When she had asked why and what’s in it, Maryse had simply scolded her saying it was her personal things from her early life. Respecting her mother’s wishes, at the time, she didn’t open it. That is until now. She had lost respect for her mother the moment she found out about Alec.

She took out her stele and drew an unlock rune, before slipping her stele back inside her pocket. She opened the drawer and looked inside. As Izzy went through the things, she gasped and held her hand to her mouth.

***

Jace saw Maryse and Robert approaching the office doors. “Hey guys, I wanted to talk to you.” Jace stepped towards them. Maryse smiled.

“What is it darling?”  
“Well… I prefer if this was in private.” He said, giving them a, fake, nervous smile. They both nodded.

“Of course lets go into the office.”

“No!” Jace said, a little louder than necessary. “I- I mean. Let’s go into my room.” They both narrowed their eyes at Jace but nodded.  
Jace sighed in relief and led them to his room. Once they all sat down, they looked at Jace expectantly. “Well… there is this girl, Clary. She… I think I really like her.” Jace started. Even though the purpose of this was to distract their parents, Jace wasn’t lying. He had met Clary when he was at Pandemonium. He really hit it off with her and found out she was a Shadowhunter too, except she didn’t live at an institute, she lived with her mother and step father in Brooklyn.

Robert chuckled and Maryse smiled. “And I just don’t know if she likes me back.” Jace continued.  
“I remember when I first met your mother.” Robert spoke. Maryse _blushed_ and Jace tried not to gag. “She was standing by her friends and I walked up to her. She –“

“Jace?” Izzy poked her head into his room, interrupting Robert. “We have a mission.” Jace inwardly sighed in relief. He nodded. Robert and Maryse smiled at their children, not suspecting anything and walked out of Jace’s room. After they left, Izzy walked in. “You won’t believe what I found.” She said, her eyes wide with emotion. Jace raised his eyebrows. “Come on. Not here. Let’s go some place else.” She said and dragged him out of the institute.

***

Magnus stepped out of the bathroom after having a long relaxing shower. The whole Alec thing was kind of stressing him out. He took out his clothes and stepped into them before applying his make up and walked out of his room. He found Alec with his back to him, sitting on the sofa, reading. Magnus smiled at the fact that Alec had made himself home here. He walked closer and as he did Alec must have sensed him because he quickly jumped up and tried to hide the book behind his back. His face turned scarlet and his eyes widened. Magnus was shocked at his sudden movement and curious to see what Alec was hiding. “Alexander?” Magnus asked.

Alec looked towards his feet and looked like a child who was being scolded at. “Alec. What book are you hiding behind your back?” Magnus asked, keeping his voice calm and soft, trying not to scare the boy. Alec didn’t reply straight away. He slowly lifted his head and stepped towards Magnus. He showed Magnus the book and as Magus read the title he tried very hard not to make an _aww_ sound.

Alec was holding a book of spells. They weren’t big spells. They were the everyday, beginner, spells. _How to magically summon sandwiches from the nearest food shop. How to close the curtains with magic. How to dress yourself with magic. How to make small items float._ Magnus had gotten that book for one of his client’s daughter, who was learning how to control her magic at the time. He had kept the book, after she had learned everything. He smiled, gently and moved towards Alec who had a very frightened look on his face. “I know I shouldn’t be reading that… but I… I really wanted…” Alec stuttered, his breathing increased rapidly.  
Magnus sighed and placed a his hand on Alec’s upper arm. “Alexander. Shh. It’s okay. You are a warlock too. Which means you have every right to want to know how to use magic.” Magnus comforted. Alec’s eyes widened. “I-I do?” He asked. Magnus nodded.

“Yes. Of course.”

Alec let out a small giggle and embraced Magnus in a hug, catching Magnus off guard. “Thank you.” He mumbled into Magnus’s shoulder. Magnus slowly put his arm around the other man, and awkwardly hugged him back. “You’re welcome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAT HAS IZZY FOUND???
> 
> Feel free to leave your theories ;)


	7. Unlocked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What has Izzy found?

“So… Shall we get started?” Magnus asked, after they separated from their hug. Alec’s eyes widened in excitement and they turned into a shade of red. Magnus was mesmerised every time he saw the colour change. How the new colour filled his orbs, spreading itself around the whole eye. “Now?” He asked. And Magnus nodded.   
“Yeah. Now is the perfect time.” He replied and Alec’s face broke out into a massive grin, happiness radiating his whole face. And Magnus decided that this was how he wanted Alec to look all day, everyday. “O-okay.” The raven haired boy stammered and Magnus smiled back at him as Alec’s smile seemed to be contagious.

He stepped away from Alec and sat down on the sofa, patting the spot beside him. Alec sat down and looked at Magnus. “Okay, so have you ever done any magic before?” Magnus asked, hoping Alec would tell him how he had learned to glamour his eyes. Alec lowered his eyes to his hands and bit his lip. “I- I have.” He replied in a hushed voice.

“What magic have you done?” Magnus asked. Alec didn’t reply straight away and instead looked at Magnus’s face, searching for something, Magnus didn’t know what.

He opened his mouth a couple of times before closing it again. “Hey, it’s okay. You can tell me.” Magnus whispered. And Alec hesitantly nodded.

“I’ve killed a man w-with my magic.” He blurted out.

Magnus’s eyebrows rose, having not expecting that answer. He had thought Alec would tell him about how he learned to glamour his eyes. Not… _that_.

“So have I.” Magnus replied, smiling gently, keeping the surprise out of his voice. Alec’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Y-you have?” He asked and Magnus nodded.   
“I will tell you mine if you tell me yours?” Magnus whispered.

And Alec nodded. “It was about a year after my mother locked me up. I still didn’t know what I was as no one would tell me. They kept telling me I was a freak, a monster. So much so, that I started to believe it.” Magnus slowly moved forward and placed his hand on top of Alec’s and when Alec squeezed back, Magnus bit back a small smile. “I didn’t know how to control my magic. And when I would sleep at night, my body would react to what I was dreaming. Most of the time it was nightmares, which led my magic to destroy various things in my room. Like the bedside lamp, the mirror. My mother and father didn’t visit me much, just like once a year to check if I was still alive or something. But the person who took care of me at the time, and by ‘ _took care_ ’ I mean, who injected me with weird stuff and hit me with his whip to see how much I could take before passing out. He saw what happened to the room so he told my mother. She called in a warlock and he taught me how to control my magic as I slept. He also taught me how to glamour my eyes, at my mother’s request as she couldn’t bare to look into my _demonic_ eyes. But she made sure that what I learnt from the warlock wasn’t too much as she didn’t want me to escape.” Alec paused and breathed through his nose.

“A few years later, one night, I was sleeping and I heard voices. It was… it was the warlock who helped me control my magic. He was talking to someone outside my bedroom door, in hushed voices. He walked in and I pretended to be asleep, but I sensed him walking closer and closer to me until I f-felt his hands on my throat and… I couldn’t breathe.” Magnus could see the tears gathering up in Alec’s eyes. He squeezed the boy’s hand. “He was trying to kill me, by chocking me. I tried to get him off me. I tried to plea at him to let go but he said… he said that I was a danger to everyone. That I should die. That I… didn’t deserve to live.”

Magnus felt an overwhelming amount of anger towards the warlock. “I tried to make him let go of me, but he wouldn’t budge and then… my hands were suddenly burning. I moved them to the warlock’s face at pure instinct and watched as he screamed in pain as his face burned off. I don’t know how I did it. It was like my body’s way of protecting myself. I kept my hands on his face until his screams and the rest of his body turned to ashes. I burned him to death.” Alec was squeezing Magnus’s hand, very hard making Magnus wince but Magnus didn’t dare show it. “The man who he was talking to was the man who took care of me. After he saw what I had done to the warlock, he ran away… and after my mother found out what happened, she got Hodge to keep watch over me and never let me learn any magic every again.”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you, when… when you asked how I learned to glamour my eyes. Because it reminded me of him and I didn’t want to talk about it at the time.”  
Magnus nodded and squeezed his hand in understanding.

They both remained silent for a while, neither of them knowing what to say. Alec turned his head to Magnus. “Your turn.” He whispered, and smiled slightly, despite his tears running down his face. Magnus sighed and looked towards the ceiling.

“I was ten when my Warlock Mark revealed itself. My mother had been raped by a demon who had disguised himself to look like my step father. When I was born, I looked like a regular baby so my mother thought I was her husband’s child.

I wasn’t.

After my Warlock Mark showed itself, my mother killed herself as she couldn’t bare the thought of having a demon as a child. My step father blamed me for her death. He tried to drown me in the lake next to our house. My magic was there to protect me. I burned him where he stood.” Alec’s eyes were wide and tears continued to run down his face. Magnus didn’t know if it was because if his own story of Magnus’s. “We both killed them in similar ways.” He whispered and Magnus nodded.

“Yeah… I guess it’s fate’s sick and twisted way of telling us we were destined to meet.” Magnus replied, trying to lighten the mood. Alec only smiled slightly. He looked into Magnus’s eyes. “I like that,” he replied.   
Magnus raised an eyebrow. “What?”  
“The whole fate wanting us to meet thing.” Alec explained.   
Magnus chuckled. “Me too.”

“I’m glad I met you Magnus. You’re a great friend.” Alec whispered. Magnus’s heart warmed at his words. “I’m glad I met you too. And you are a great friend too.” Magnus replied and Alec’s lips slowly grew into a smile.

***

“Okay. So what did you find?” Jace asked. They stepped through the the doors of Takis, a small Chinese restaurant near the institute, and sat down at a table furtherest from any other. Izzy’s expression was strained and she kept rubbing her hands together, and Jace knew her well enough to know that she was nervous. “I…l” she sighed and closed her eyes.

“I found a birth certificate.” She began. “It’s Alec’s… I also found a death certificate.”

Jace’s eyes widened.

“What!” He shrieked, forgetting he was in a public place. Izzy nodded sadly.

“That’s Alec’s too?” Jace asked, already knowing the answer.

Izzy simply nodded again.

“Fuck.” 

This was all so messed up. It felt like some one had slapped them awake from an alternate reality, where they were living a lie their whole lives, but now they had entered the real world, now they could finally see what was really happening right in front of their eyes.

“Do we tell Alec?” Jace asked. He didn’t know who Alec would react. This would hurt him more, right?

“We can’t let him know yet. We can’t let him know that mother forged a death certificate telling everyone he had died, when the demon attacked… We just got him back. We can’t lose him again.” Izzy replied.

Jace nodded.

It was the right thing to do. _Right_?

***

After their rejuvenating talk, Magnus started of with small spells. He showed Alec how to concentrate on his magic source, to _feel_ his magic. “Okay, close your eyes and try to find the core of your magic.” Magnus instructed. Alec did as told and breathed in and out slowly, his eyebrows twisted together in concentration, his bottom lip between his teeth. “When you find it, you will feel yourself _click_. Like you know when you realise something, and it suddenly feels like that something has always been there? Well it shall feel like that.” Alec nodded along to Magnus’s words and continued to search with his mind and body.

Magnus was right. Because as soon as he found the core of his magic, he suddenly felt different. It was a weird feeling. But it felt like coming home after a long day of work. It felt like finding something that had been lost, after so long. It felt like hearing an old favourite song, after forgetting about it for years. He opened his eyes and found Magnus staring at him, smiling. “You did it.” He smiled, making Alec smile too.

“I did it.” He replied, astonishment in his voice. Magnus chuckled.

“Since you were only taught two things, the rest of your magic had locked itself away, thinking you don’t need it. But now that it’s unlocked, it has space to move about, to experiment.” Magnus explained.   
“You talk about it like it is a living being.” Alec replied.   
“Agh. But it is…” Magnus answered. Alec looked at him, confused. “It is a part of you, which means it is kind of like a living being as it lives inside you.”

Alec nodded, playing with the thought in his mind. “Okay let’s start.” Magnus clapped his hands before he clicked his fingers and a vase appeared on the coffee table. “I want you to focus on the vase. I want you to imagine red roses inside that vase. Concentrate on making red roses appear into that vase.” Magnus instructed. Alec nodded and a determined expression settled on his face.

Alec focused on the vase and imagined a fresh set of red roses appearing inside it. He imagined them smelling exotic and beautiful as they shined in the sunlight. He imagined the thorns to be sharp and pointy on the stems. He felt himself slowly build the image inside his head so much so that he could feel his magic pulling at the image in his mind.

Just as he thought he had it. The vase smashed into a million pieces, making both Alec and Magnus flinch in surprise. Alec looked down at his hands, in guilt. “I’m so sorry, I…”  
“What are you apologising for?” Magnus interrupted. Alec gestured at the broken vase and Magnus sighed. “Alec. No body gets it on their first try. You have to practice. And slowly you will learn how to do this.” Magnus explained and saw Alec relax slightly.

“I should tidy this up.” Alec moved to tidy the mess but stopped when Magnus, with a flick of his hand, cleaned the mess away. “You make it look so effortless.” Alec huffed making Magnus laugh.

“You will get there.” Magnus promised. Alec merely nodded. 


	8. I promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PLOT TWIST??
> 
> Plus Fluff.

After their magic session they were making dinner. Well… _Magnus_ was making dinner. Alec was sat on the counter eating grapes. “Did you call your friend Tessa?” Alec asked. Magnus hummed.  
“Yeah. I texted her. She is with her husband, Jem, right now on their honeymoon.”  
“When did they get married?” Alec asked. Trying to remember if Magnus has said anything about a wedding. Magnus chuckled.  
“Five years ago.”  
“Then why…” Alec asked, feeling confused. Magnus shook his head fondly.

“They just like to call it that. Tessa said it makes her feel young and like newly weds.” Alec smiled as he understood.

“What about you?” Alec asked.  
“What about me?” Magnus asked.  
“Have you ever been married?” Magnus looked at Alec and gave him the _are you serious_ look, before answering. “No… but I have had many relationships in the past. Men and women.”  
“You like men _and_ women?” Alec asked, sounding surprised. Magnus smiled and nodded.  
“A-and that’s okay?” Alec asked. Magnus nodded again.  
“Well. Some people would disagree. They think it’s wrong to like the same gender. But those people are wrong. It’s okay. It’s _more_ than okay. Love is love.” Magnus answered and looked at Alec who had wide eyes as he listened. He also saw that the boy was blushing, and Magnus wondered why.

They sat down at the table and ate the noodles, Magnus had made, eating in comfortable silence. Magnus had always loved noodles. This was a recipe he had gotten off Cat and it tasted divine.

“What’s sex like?” Alec randomly blurted out.

Upon hearing the question, the food Magnus was chewing went down the wrong pipe making Magnus choke on his food. He spluttered as he reached for his water and took long sips, trying to calm his breathing down. When he was somewhat calm, he looked at Alec who was blushing so hard he looked very red. “Why do… why do you ask?” Magnus slowly asked. Alec shook his head.  
“Never mind. I was just curious.” Alec murmured. “It’s what you do with someone when you love them right?” Alec’s eyes were big and wide, and Magnus saw how innocent he looked. He wanted to tell Alec that it wasn’t like that anymore. That sex was just… sex. It wasn’t like making love with someone you loved. He wanted to tell him that the world wasn’t so good. Wasn’t so romantic. But he didn’t. Because he couldn’t bare to see that light turn off in Alec’s eyes.

“Right.” Magnus replied.

***

“We need to get to that warlock’s house and demand that he gives us back our _property_.” Maryse sneered and Robert and Hodge nodded. They were in the office, trying to come up with a plan to get Alec back. “We have to do it quickly, before word gets out. We can’t let any one know he is still alive.” Robert spoke.

“That means we can’t ask the Clave for help.” Hodge said and Maryse shook her head.

“No. They think Alexander died when that demon attacked. Which he did. My _real_ son died that day and monster took his place.” Maryse growled.

***

Izzy was exhausted. After she had told Jace the things she had found, they had returned to the institute where she had gone crazy and beat the shit out of the punching bag in the training room. Taking all the anger out on it. As she punched her mind kept drifting to one thing. _Why did mother lock Alec up and pretend he was dead?_

The question was bugging her, and she needed answers. After a few more hours of kicking and punching, her muscles started to protest so she called it a day and headed back to her room.

Only to stop when she heard voices coming fro, inside her office. “- to get that warlock’s house and demand that he gives us back our property.” She heard her mother’s voice.  
“We have to do it quickly, before word gets out. We can’t let any one know he is still alive.” Her father’s voice came through the closed doors and Isabelle felt her blood freeze. _Dad is involved too?_  
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“That means we can’t ask the Clave for help.” Another voice intervened. _Hodge?_ Izzy felt her breathing stop and her heart beat increase. “No. They think Alexander died when that demon attacked. Which he did. My real son died that day and monster took his place.”

All her life, her parents had drilled into her that she had to make the family name proud. All her life her parents made it seem like they were perfect. Now she knew, her parents were very very far from perfect.

She heard the door knob move, indicating that they were going to come out, so she quickly ran away from the office door and burst into Jace’s room.

Jace was sat on his bed, with his back to the headboard, reading. He looked up at Izzy with a startled expression, upon seeing her abrupt entrance. “Izzy what’s wrong?” Jace asked, placing his book aside.

“We need to warn Magnus and Alec. Mother and Father plan on going to Magnus, to look for Alec.” Izzy explained everything she heard to Jace before they were both on their feet, running towards the warlock’s apartment.

***

It was late when Magnus heard the incessant knocking on the front door. He groaned and turned over in bed to look at the alarm clock.  
_3:00am_  
“For fuck sake.” Magnus muttered, getting out of bed and walking towards the front door. “M-nus?” Alec stood at his bedroom door, rubbing the sleep away from his, olive green, eyes. His hair was all ruffled up and messy, his eyes were droopy with tiredness. “Whose at the door?” He asked, voice husky from sleep. _He is so adorable… wait what?_

“I don’t know. You can go back to sleep if you like.” Magnus said, walking towards the door. Alec shook his head and followed Magnus. “No. If it’s a burglar then I need to be there to protect you.” Alec whispered, as they neared the door. Magnus couldn’t help but let out a small giggle. “ _You_ protect _me_?” He asked, smirking at Alec. Alec nodded.  
“Yeah.” He replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I learnt magic today.”

“You mean you learnt how to smash a vase, with magic... and anyway, which burglar comes from the front door and knocks?” Magnus teased, and Alec squinted his eyes in thought. “Well. It could be a burglar who wants us to think he isn’t a burglar?”  
Magnus chuckled again. “Never knew you were such a dork.”  
“Hey, am not.” He hit Magnus gently on the arm, making Magnus laugh harder. He shook his head and rolled his eyes fondly and stood right in front of the door. “Ready?” He asked. Alec nodded, his own smile disappearing, being replaced by a serious look as he placed his glamour on.

Magnus did the same befor swinging the door open, to reveal an annoyed looking Jace and a worried Izzy. “Finally! What took you so long?” Jace huffed and pushed past the two men. “Well there is the small fact that we were in bed, asleep!” Magnus grumbled.  
“I’m sorry but we need to talk.” Izzy said, and she too walked in, pushing past Alec.

“Well. Come on in.” Magnus replied, sarcasm laced in his voice, making Alec snigger.

Izzy rolled her eyes. “It’s important.” She said and Magnus sighed, gesturing for them to all sit. He snapped hot cocoa for them all, and when he received a look from Alec which said _you’re showing off_ , Magnus hid his smile behind his cup as he took a sip. “So what is it?”

Izzy was watching their small interaction with a small smile, as she felt a small warmth bloom in her chest. “It’s about Alec.” At the sound of his name, Alec sat up straighter and looked away from Magnus and at his sister. “What’s about me?” He asked. Izzy took a sip of her cocoa and sighed. “It’s mother and father.” She started, and at the sound of his parent’s names, Alec flinched and his grip on his mug tightened. “They… they are going to come here. Magnus. They know you helped Alec escape and want him back.”

Magnus’s eyes widened upon hearing the news. “How… how do they know Magnus saved me?” Alec asked, sounding very small.  
“Because the day I portalled you out of that room, a man stood at the door. I didn’t recognise him and he was on the phone to someone.” Magnus answered. Izzy nodded like as if she already knew. “Yeah that’s Hodge. He is in on this too… Mother said that they want to keep this Alec thing private and doesn’t want the Clave to find out, because –“  
“Because they would make it into a big deal and she doesn’t want that.” Jace interrupted, shooting Izzy a glare. Izzy immediately pressed her lips together, biting her lip. She was almost going to tell Alec about the death certificate she had found. 

Magnus nodded, not really surprised. He figured it was a matter of time before they came looking for Alec. “Thank you for telling us.”  
He was going to say more, but stopped when he heard ragged breathing coming from Alec. Alec’s glamour was flickering and his hands started to shake. Magnus immediately walked towards Alec and sat down, taking his hands in his own. “Alec. Alec.” Magnus tried to gain his attention but Alec’s eyes were bulging and his breathing was irregular. He could see his glamour was almost off, and he knew that once Izzy and Jace saw his eyes they would be so many more questions. “You guys need to go.” Magnus grunted and after seeing the state Alec was in, they both nodded and walked out, shutting the door behind them.

“M-Magnus. You… are you going to hand m-me over to them?” Alec panted out, his eyes streaming with tears, glamour having disappeared. Magnus’s eyes widened and he shook his head but Alec didn’t seem to see in his panic. “Magnus you can’t… I can’t go back there. I can’t.” He cried, breaking Magnus’s heart.  
Magnus pulled Alec into his chest and held him, tightly. “Shh. Alec. I’m not letting them take you. I promise. Shh. Breathe. Alec you need to breathe.” Magnus soothed, stroking Alec’s hair, trying to calm the trembling boy down. “Alec look at me. Copy my breathing.” Magnus instructed and Alec slowly lifted his watery eyes and looked at Magnus. “Breathe in.” Magnus breathed in. “And out.” He let his breath out slowly and when Alec copied Magnus smiled and nodded his head in encouragement. He continued to demonstrate his breathing, giving Alec small praises along the way, until Alec was calm enough and his breathing returned back to normal.

He was still crying but his panic attack had gone, to which Magnus sighed in relief. “Alec look at me.” Magnus whispered, bringing his head to his level so they were eye to eye. “I am _not_ going to let them take you. You hear me? You are _not_ going back there.” Magnus said fiercely and Alec nodded slowly, finally understanding.

“Thank you.” He whispered, before exhaustion took over and he fell asleep on Magnus’s shoulder. Magnus sighed and gently pushed a strand of hair away from the boy’s face. Alec’s eyelids fluttered as he dreamt and Magnus smiled at the peaceful warmth that had settled over his face.

The warlock slowly scooped Alec up in his arms, and carried him towards Alec’s bedroom where he laid him down gently on the bed. He leaned forward and planted a small kiss on the sleeping beauty’s forehead, before walking out of the room and into his own.

***

It was late, and the institute halls were empty and silent. The lights all shut off, giving the place an eerie feeling. The only light coming in was the light from the moon, peeking in through the windows.

The floor boards creaked as he walked and his breaths sounded like harsh pants in the silence. He reached the library doors, and before walking inside, he looked from left to right to see if the coast was clear, before he stepped inside. 

The big oak doors shut, with a loud bang, behind him, making him flinch slightly. Before he descended the stairs, one at a time, holding the mortal cup in one hand. Once he reached the bottom, he paused and looked around the empty room, took a deep breath and finally twisted the ring on his finger.

Immediately light shone in the room and a figure appeared through the portal that had just been created.

“Master.” He said, before bowing down.

The man smirked, his eyes shone with a sort of wickedness that the devil himself failed to posses. He looked down at the man before him and his smirk grew. “Arise.” He commanded. “Do you have what I asked of you?”

The man below him nodded his head and smirked as he handed over the mortal cup. “The boy. Alexander. Is staying with the warlock _Magnus Bane_.”

The intruding man’s smirk grew into a grin. “Thank you Hodge. You have done well. But now I’m afraid, your time is up.”

Hodge’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion but he didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on what the man meant as he saw a flash of a sword being taken out of its sheath and felt pain shoot through his body in big waves as the blade cut open his skin.

His screams echoed throughout the empty halls of the institute. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BAM!!


	9. Red rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More magic learning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so College is kicking my arse right now so I haven’t had the time to write. 
> 
> So apologies for the late updates.

Max awoke with a startled cry. He had heard someone’s screams ringing in his head. His breaths were coming out in harsh, loud pants and he blinked a couple of times to see clearly.

He looked around and when he saw his surroundings, his breathing slowed down until he was calm again. The screaming had stopped, and even though it was a dream, Max could swear it felt so… _real_.

Nevertheless, he knew he couldn’t get back to sleep. So he got out of bed and decided to find something to eat. He remembered when he was younger, Izzy and Jace used to come into his room, late at night, and they all used to eat the secret snacks, that Jace had stolen from the kitchen, which usually consisted of chocolate biscuits.

He knew times had changed, he couldn’t do that with them anymore. They were too busy in what ever was keeping them stressed. He missed spending time with them.

Max walked along the hallway, humming a tune to himself. He was nearly there at the kitchen when something made him stop. Or rather… some one.

He was standing outside of the library, holding the mortal cup. He had a smirk on his face, which sent shivers down Max’s spine.  
The little boy walked closer, to see who the mysterious man was. When he got closer, he recognised the familiar brown hair and beard. “Hodge?” Max asked, his voice slightly unsure. The man turned around and his smirk changed into a friendly smile. “Isn’t it late for you to be up?” Hodge replied. Max felt himself relax.

“I heard screams… I think I was just dreaming but now I can’t sleep.” Max replied. Hodge’s eyes darkened and Max wondered what that was about. “Why are you holding the mortal cup?” Max asked. Hodge stiffened, but immediately changed his troubled look into a friendly smile again. “I was doing some research. But it’s nothing you need to worry about. Come on. Go back to bed.” Hodge replied, his voice sounded… _off_. Max couldn’t quiet place why hearing his tutor talk felt weird, but it just did. Nevertheless. He nodded and turned around to walk back into his room. But instead of going into his room, he walked into Izzy’s. Wanting to seek comfort from his big sister.

***

Alec woke with a groggy mind. He rubbed his eyes and realised that he was in his bed. He could remember the events of last night, he had had a panic attack and Magnus had held him. Telling him that he wouldn’t let them take him away. No body had ever said that to him. No body had ever taken care of him, like Magnus did. And even though Alec had only known him for a short time, he trusted Magnus more than anyone. Because after all his years of living, Magnus was the first to show him kindness despite his unique blood.

He smiled and bit his lip at the thought of Magnus carrying him and tucking him into bed. His fingers wondered over to his forehead, where he could have sworn he had felt a kiss. Alec had felt it but at the time didn’t acknowledge it as he was in that state of half asleep and half awake. _It was probably just in my head. He would never do that._ The logical side of Alec reminded him. Alec sighed and got out of bed.

He found Magnus sitting on the breakfast bar, reading the newspaper. “Morning.” Alec greeted. Magnus looked away from what he was doing and at Alec, his smile warm and inviting. “Good morning… Did you sleep well? How are you feeling after last night?” Alec took a seat on the breakfast bar.

“I… did. Thank you for taking me to bed.” Alec admitted shyly and Magnus almost cooed out loud. “And as for… well… I am feeling scared and worried I guess. But I have you and you are going to protect me… right?”

“Damn straight. I’ve put my wards up, which means only you and I can pass through without setting off the alarms. And also, once I am done teaching you how to use your magic, you will bad a badass yourself.” Magnus replied, making Alec smile and nod.  
“Yeah. I want to be able to protect myself, want to prove everyone wrong.” Alec replied, twiddling with his fingers and looking down at his hands. Magnus’s brows creased. “What do you mean?” He slowly asked. Alec looked up at Magnus and blush spread across his cheeks, as he hadn’t meant to say that. “N-nothing. What’s for breakfast?” He replied. Magnus mentally groaned when Alec lied but smiled nonetheless, trying to hide his inner worries.  
“What would you like?”  
“Anything is fine.” Alec replied, glumly and Magnus felt a strong urge to hug the boy. He sighed and with a wave of his hand, plates full of different kinds of breakfasts appeared, making Alec gasp. “Eat up. Your going to need your strength when learning magic.” Magnus gestured with a wave of his hand and watched Alec’s eyes take in all the food. He thought of it as a good sign when Alec didn’t protest and dug into the food.

***

“Okay hold your hand up, palm facing me.” Magnus instructed, standing opposite Alec. They had moved the sofas and the coffee table aside to make room. Alec did as told, wearing a look of determination on his face. “And I want you to focus on your energy source. I want you to dig deep inside you, and find your core again.” Alec closed his eyes, his eyebrows furrowing in concentration.

After a few seconds, of Alec focusing on channeling his inner strength, Magnus smiled when he saw a small spark of blue leave Alec’s fingers. The small sparks slowly grew until it was a small ball of blue fire. Alec opened his eyes and stared down at his hands. “M-Magnus?” Alec asked, feeling confused. Magnus’s smile just grew bigger.

“It’s okay Alec. Don’t panic. Keep going.”

Alec nodded, and felt the small ball of blue fire grow, until it was the size of a tennis ball. “Okay, Alec I want you to focus on turning the ball of fire into a red rose.” Alec’s eyes swirled with colours, Magnus noticed, not settling on a particular one as he felt his magic run through him.

To Alec it felt… _liberating_. To finally use the magic that had been trapped inside of him all these years.

He imagined a red rose and concentrated on turning the ball of fire into the flower. He imagined the softness of the petals, the spiked thorns and the redness of the flower and before he knew it, he was holding a beautiful, fresh, red rose. “I did it.” Alec whispered, mostly to himself but Magnus nodded anyway. “You did it!” Magnus cheered. Alec let a small chuckle and studied the rose. It was exactly how Alec imagined it would be.

“Here you go. This is for you.” Alec blushed as he handed over the beautiful rose over to Magnus.

Magnus’s eyes widened, and his cheeks slightly darkened. “For… me?” He asked, not quite believing what he was hearing. Alec nodded and grinned. “Yeah. Unless… y-you don’t want it. Then you don’t… h-have to take it. I just-“  
“Alexander.” Magnus interrupted Alec’s rambling. “I love it.”  
The warlock felt his heartbeat increase at the sight of Alec’s huge smile that he received. He slowly and gently handed the rose over to Magnus and the warlock stared down at the flower, tears growing in his eyes. He couldn’t believe that a small act of receiving a rose made him tear up but it wasn’t the object itself. It was _who_ the object was from. He blinked his tears away, before Alec could see them. “Thank you, Alexander.” Alec just nodded in response.

***

After their magic session where Alec learned how to make small objects, they moved the furniture back into place and settled down to watch tv. The Chairman decided to join them, and made himself at home between Alec and Magnus. The warlock watched Alec smile and stroke the cat’s fur. “Alec.” Magnus whispered. He had no idea why he was whispering. They were the only two people in the room, but for some reason whispering felt appropriate. “Hmm?” Alec replied, his attention still on the tv.  
“Tell me something. Something good.” Magnus looked at Alec and saw the boy freeze.  
“Why?” Alec whispered back, turning his head away from the tv. All his attention on Magnus.   
“Because I want to know, I _need_ to know that not all your life has been bad,” Magnus practically pleaded. Alec smiled a small a sad smile and searched Magnus’s face. For what? The warlock didn’t know. 

“Things are better. Now that I am with you.” Alec whispered back, his cheeks and ears turning bright red, as well as his eyes. Magnus felt his heartbeat increase and he smiled. 

“But… there were some parts of my life that were good.” Magnus raised an eyebrow, for Alec to continue. “B-before I… I got locked away... Izzy and I used to have this game. In the Institute. When ever we saw a car driving past the windows, we had to duck down in hiding.” Alec chuckled at the memory. “Who ever was the slowest to hide was eaten by the cars. It seems so childish, but… Izzy used to love playing it. I did to.” His voice grew quiet and Magnus reached forward and gently placed his hand on top of Alec’s. Comforting him just by his presence.

***

Maryse looked to her left and then to her right, before slipping into one of the meeting rooms where her husband and Hodge stood, waiting for her. “Okay. What have you got?” She asked. Hodge stepped forward. He was holding a metallic device in his right hand and a grin plastered on his face. Something seemed _off_ about him, but Maryse couldn’t quite place her finger in what it was. “Okay. So the warlock took Alec and obviously he won’t give him up without a fight.” Hodge started. Maryse and Robert both nodded in agreement. “So… We need to get to Alec when the warlock isn’t there.” His smirk grew and his eyes sparkled with glee as he told his plan. “But how do we know when he isn’t there?” Maryse asked, crossing her arms across her chest. “We wait.” Hodge replied.

“Wait.” Robert spoke up. “The warlock probably has his wards up, so even if he isn’t there, we can’t get inside.” Maryse nodded but Hodge’s smirk merely grew.

“And that is why we have this.” He held the metallic round object up for the Lightwood parent’s to see.”  
“What is it?” Robert asked.  
“It is a device to break down the wards any warlock casts, including the one the High Warlock of Brooklyn makes.” This time all three people in the room were grinning in the room.  
“Okay… Let’s get to work.” Maryse finalised and both men nodded in agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> Feel free to leave comments and kudos!!


	10. You’re safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I hope you’re enjoying this story. I know I am. ;) 
> 
> You guys are all amazing.

“We need you to carry out a top secret mission.” Maryse informed. Raj nodded sternly and waited for Maryse to continue. “Magnus Bane has something that he stole from us. We need it back. But in order to get it back, we need to know when he isn’t home to guard it.”  
“What is it that he stole?” Raj asked.  
“That doesn’t concern you. All you need to do is watch the warlock and inform us straight away when he leaves the house… _Alone_.”

Raj nodded once and slipped out of the room. “Now we wait.” Robert placed his hand on his wife’s shoulder.

“And now we wait.” Maryse repeated in agreement.

***

“Okay, so like this?” Alec asked. Magnus nodded, watching Alec stir the cake mixture. It was the Chairman’s birthday and they had decided to make a cake for the cat, even though they both knew that he wasn’t going to eat it. Normally Magnus would magic up the cake but Alec had wanted to try making it the mundane way, so here they were, wearing old and disgusting aprons that Catarina had gifted him. “You’re doing a great job.” Magnus praised and watched the tip of Alec’s ears burn red. The warlock felt a small rush of pride run through him, for making Alec blush. Although, to be fair, the boy blushed _a lot._ Magnus sometimes worried for his blood levels.

“So is Ragnor and Cat coming?” Alec asked. Magnus nodded. They had decided to call over his friends in honour of Chairman meow’s birthday and also because it had been ages since they had had a chance to meet up. “Yeah. I rang them, and Ragnor will be making a portal from London. Cat will also portal over when her shift at the hospital ends.”

Magnus had thought that a small gathering would be good for Alec. He needed to socialise with other people since he hadn’t had the chance to in the past. He needed Alec to open up and not flinch away from people, but the warlock also knew that it would take time, so he didn’t push the boy.

“Magnus?” Alec hesitantly called Magnus and stopped stirring.  
“Yes my dear?” Magnus smiled but his smile faltered slightly when he saw the worried look on the boy’s face. “Is… does your friends think I’m weird?” Alec asked and Magnus’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“What? No. Why would you think that?” He walked closer to Alec, and gently placed a hand on his upper arm, trying to comfort him. “B-because when I first met them I was so awkward.” Alec stammered.

Magnus sighed. “Alexander.” Alec didn’t know why but he felt butterflies flutter within his stomach when Magnus pronounced his full name. It was strange because this wasn’t the first time Magnus had said it, but it _was_ the first time he felt something stir at the sound of it. “They do not think you’re weird. And when you first met them, you didn’t have experience in talking to a lot of people so they don’t blame you.” Magnus searched Alec’s eyes, trying to convince him he was telling the truth. “To be honest, they are very interested in you.”  
Alec raised his right eyebrow. “They are?”  
Magnus nodded. “Yeah. They are curious to know how… well… how you are the way you are.” He winced at his own sentence.  
“I am too.” Magnus continued nevertheless.  
“Yeah well that makes two of us.” Alec muttered.  
Shock was all over Magnus’s face. “You mean you don’t know how you… were conceived?” Magnus asked, not believing his ears. Alec shook his head. “When I was younger, w-when I first _came out_ as a warlock, my mother was too busy calling me disgusting names to tell me _how_ I was a warlock in the first place. I know my father, Robert Lightwood _is_ my father and same with Maryse. She _is_ my mother. Which makes it much more confusing.” Alec was looking at his bare feet, not meeting Magnus’s eyes. “How do you know that they are your parents?” Magnus asked.

“Because, a few years later, my mother asked the warlock, who taught me how to glamour my eyes, to take a DNA test. I am their child.” He replied. Magnus felt confusion settle over him. The known way of producing a warlock child was when a demon conceived with a human mother. That normally happened through rape or impersonation. But then again, Alec was different. He wasn’t _just_ a warlock. He was a Shadowhunter too. So the natural way didn’t apply to him. “Hey.” Magnus whispered, placing his index finger under Alec’s chin and gently pushing his head up so they had eye contact. “No matter how you were born, no matter what your Warlock Mark is or who your parents are. You. Are. Perfect.” _To me_. He finished off inside his head, not daring to speak the last part out loud. Alec smiled a small smile, his eyes twinkling with gratitude.

“Thank you Magnus.” Alec replied, his voice hoarse with emotion.  
“You are very welcome, my dear.” Magnus beamed at the hybrid, making him blush.

They were so caught up in simply gazing into each other’s eyes that they didn’t see the third person enter the room. “Well well well. What do we have hear?”  
Both men flinched away from each other and turned to look at Ragnor who was wearing a knowing smirk on his face. Alec’s cheeks flamed red (well… redder than usual) and Ragnor’s smirk merely grew. “Ragnor, it’s so lovely to see you!” Magnus exclaimed. Ragnor hummed.  
“Is it?” He asked cheekily making Magnus roll his eyes.  
“Yes. You old bugger. Nice to see you out of your shell for once and by shell I mean that awful house you live in.” He smiled innocently at his long lost friend, who just snorted in reply.

Ragnor turned his attention from Magnus to Alec, who was looking at Ragnor with wide eyes. “Hello Alec. Nice to see you again.” He greeted politely. Alec’s heartbeat increased when he saw the attention in the room change over to him. He wasn’t used to new people. Although he had gotten used to Magnus pretty quickly. “H-hi. It’s… lovely to see you too.” Alec stammered out, feeling his palms sweat and his cheeks flush. Ragnor smiled at him before turning back to Magnus.

The warlock led Ragnor over to the living room and they both sat down, catching up on all the things that had happened since they last saw each other. Alec decided he wanted to stay in the kitchen and finish the cake. He still wasn’t fully comfortable around other people. Chairman Meow decided to keep Alec company in the kitchen, as he jumped on top of the counter and curled up, watching Alec stir the cake mixture.

It wasn’t long before Cat portalled in and the three friends sat in the living room catching up. “So how is Alec doing?” Cat whispered so Alec wouldn’t hear. Magnus smiled slightly before replying. “He is doing well. In his magic and generally. I feel like I am getting through to him.” Ragnor and Cat both nodded and smiled at their friend. “He looks healthier than when we first met him.” Ragnor pointed out, and Magnus nodded in agreement. He was just about to open his mouth to say something when his phone shrilled itself into existence. Magnus sighed and picked it up, answering the call.

Alec heard the distant noice of Magnus’s ringtone, not really really paying attention as he was busy with his work. Even though he hadn’t cooked ever in his life, he felt as if he was pretty good. He was just putting the mixture into the cake tray when Magnus walked into the kitchen wearing an annoyed look on his face.  
“Hey, Alexander. These werewolves are having trouble near Jade wolf so they’ve called me to sort it out. I will be back in an hour. Okay?” Magnus informed. Alec stiffly nodded, not really liking the idea of being alone with Ragnor and Cat. Magnus noticed his expression, and walked closer. “Hey, you don’t have to talk to them if you don’t want to.” He whispered gently. Alec sighed. He knew he couldn’t be like this forever, and he knew he couldn’t let the things that his mother did to him get in the way of living his life. He shook his head. “No. It’s fine.” He murmured and Magnus smiled, before patting the hybrid on his upper arm and walking out of the front door.

Alec slowly placed the cake tray into the oven and after setting up the timer, he walked into the living room to find Cat and Ragnor talking amongst themselves.

“Hey Alec.” Cat greeted, her voice warm and inviting making Alec slightly less tense. He gave them a wobbly smile and sat down next to her. “H-Hey.” He replied.

“So… do you like living here?” Cat asked, and Alec felt himself smile at the question.

“I really like it. I feel so… safe and free. And Magnus is really… he is really… nice.” He finished lamely. His mind was telling him other things like how beautiful Magnus was, and his soft his hair looked and how flawless his makeup was. But all those things confused Alec, so he decided to ignore those swirling thoughts. Cat shared a smile with Ragnor. “That’s good.” She replied. There was an awkward silence between the three of them, none of them knowing what to say. “Shall we watch a movie?” Ragnor suggested and Alec and Cat nodded.

They all moved in closer, and with a flick of his hand, Ragnor put in a movie. It was a Disney movie and Cat smiled at Ragnor as she remembered the times she used to watch Disney movies with Ragnor and Magnus. “Have you seen this movie before?” Cat asked Alec who shook his head. “No, but Magnus said that we will watch it together.” He replied. Cat chuckled, at the thought of Magnus getting Alec into Disney movies. It was a old tradition they had between the three of them.  “Well, don’t tell him your watching it now. It will be our little secret.” She teased him and winked at the boy, who smiled and nodded.

They sat in silence and watched the movie, and Alec bit his lip to stop his smile from widening. Because for the first time in forever he felt like he was finally fitting in. 

***

“He is on the move.” Raj said into his burner phone. He was standing outside the warlock’s building, patiently waiting for him to step out. Just as he was about to call it a day and go back to the institute, Magnus had stepped out and was headed towards Jade wolf. “Is he alone?” The voice replied.  
“Yes.” Raj confirmed.  
“Right, well your job here is done. You can come back and we will handle the rest.” Raj nodded and walked back to the institute.

***

“This is our chance. We get in there, grab Alec, and get out all in the matter of 20 seconds. Are we clear?” Maryse instructed her husband and Hodge. The two men nodded and walked out of the office.

***

“… And that’s how we got banned from Peru.” Ragnor finished. Alec had his head thrown back, tears in his eyes as he laughed at the story. Catarina too was laughing as was Ragnor. The movie had finished, and before they knew it, they were all telling each other old stories. Stories that mostly included Magnus. “Wow. I can’t b-believe that he would do that!” Alec giggled.

Ragnor snorted. “He was a wild one. He still is.”

Cat nodded in agreement.

“But he seems so… sensible.” Alec murmured. “Actually that’s a boring word to describe Magnus.” Cat and Ragnor shared a look on top of Alec’s head. “How would you describe him then?” Cat asked. Alec smiled slightly.

“Erm… magical? Yeah. Magnus is definitely magical. And I don’t mean that because he is a warlock. Just that he is just so… _kind_.” Alec blabbered, his cheeks were red with embarrassment but his eyes were elsewhere, lost deep inside his mind. “Seems like he has grown on you.” Ragnor smirked. Alec bit his lip and nodded.

“I think he has.” He whispered back.

“Hey I think there are old pictures of Magnus and us in Peru!” Ragnor remembered, pulling Alec and Cat towards Magnus’s bedroom. He opened the bedside table drawer and took out the photo album. They all huddled together and flicked through laughing and simply enjoying the moment.

It wasn’t until they were half way through the book that Alec sensed something was wrong. He looked away from the photo that Cat and Ragnor were laughing hysterically at and looked towards the slightly ajar bedroom door. “Guys… did you hear that?” He whispered. He had heard a slight buzzing sound. It was subtle but loud enough for Alec to hear. The giggling pair immediately stopped laughing and turned to Alec. “Hear what?” Cat asked, also lowering her voice. Alec put a finger up and listened closely for another sound. After a few seconds, a small click sound came followed by a _whoosh._ As if the wards had just been taken away. “What’s that?” Alec asked. Ragnor shrugged his shoulders but got out of bed and towards the bedroom door. “You guys stay here. I will be right back.” He whispered.  
He was just about to step out of the room, when they all heard the voices. Making them all freeze. Alec felt a shiver down his spine and his heart dropped. Ragnor placed a finger to his lips, in a _shh_ action and Alec nodded mutely.

“So this is what that _warlock_ does with all our money.” The voice spoke. Alec froze, his eyes widened as he heard the unfortunately familiar voice.

Maryse.

“Come on. Where do you think he is keeping Alec?” Another voice spoke up. And Alec felt tears prickle at his eyes as he recognised the voice he hadn’t heard in years.

Robert.

Ragnor and Cat heard the voices too, stiffening. Ragnor gestured for them to move to the furtherest wall, and Cat nodded. Alec felt confusion settle in his mind. He too stood when Cat did and followed her towards the wall. Everything made sense when Cat opened up a portal and was quick to grab Alec’s hand, pulling him along into the swirls with Ragnor right behind them.

***

Maryse and Robert both heard the closing of the portal and rushed to the bedroom where they had heard the noise. “Damn in!” Maryse cursed pushing off the bed side lamp in her anger. “Raj said that Magnus had gone out.” She growled. Robert nodded.  
“He has.” He replied. “I took the liberty of checking the security cameras outside Bane’s building.  
“Then who made the portal! Alec can’t be at the stage of making portals. Can he?” She growled once again and Robert and Hodge merely shrugged his shoulders. “Right, we need a new strategy. We need one that doesn’t leave us one step behind.” Hodge spoke up and everyone nodded. They all walked out of the bedroom and into the living room. Hodge took out his seraph blade and used it to knock down all of the ornaments and books Magnus had on the shelves. “What are you doing?” Maryse shouted. Hodge merely smirked.

“Trashing his place!” 

“But he will know someone was here.” Robert argued.  
“That’s the point.” Hodge replied. The two Lightwoods smiled and nodded before destroying everything in sight.

When they were done, the apartment looked like a mess. Everything was in pieces. They smirked and left the apartment.

***

They fell through the portal in a tumble. Alec groaned before standing up and looking around at his surroundings. He was in a small cabin from the looks of it, it was nice and homely. But before he could allow himself to get comfortable he turned around with a panicked look on his face. “Magnus! We need to warn Magnus.” He cried and Ragnor nodded. He took out his phone and rang the other warlock. But it was no use as the call went straight to voicemail. “Fuck!” Ragnor growled in frustration. Meanwhile Alec was growing more and more scared by the minute. He _needed_ Magnus here. He _needed_ Magnus safe. Ragnor tried again, Cat trying also but they both came up empty.

“He isn’t picking up his phone! It’s going straight to voicemail.” Cat’s eyes were big with panic, not that Alec’s were any different. They were all scared for their friend. Ragnor growled in frustration again before sighing. He looked at Alec, whose eyes were wide and looked about a minute away from having a panic attack. “Hey. Magnus can protect himself. Why don’t you go lay down? He will be fine.” He gently laid a hand on Alec’s upper arm, but immediately moved away when he saw Alec flinch. “I need Magnus here.” Alec whispered desperately. “He has to be here.”

Ragnor exchanged a look with Cat before replying. “And he will be. Don’t worry, Magnus is strong.” Alec slowly nodded, but he didn’t lose the worried look. But much to Ragnor’s relief he laid down on the sofa.

Although Ragnor believed the words he had said to Alec, Magnus _was_ able to protect himself, he was still worried about his friend. “Come on. We need something of Magnus’s.” Ragnor whispered to Cat, who nodded. They walked into one of the bedrooms and found an old shirt that was Magnus’s, from the time he had left it at the cabin years ago. Ragnor focused on the spell and the item in his hand and tried to locate the warlock in his mind.

***

Magnus groaned when he took out his phone to check the time but saw that it was dead. In all his excitement to see his friends he had forgotten to charge the damn thing. He was exhausted. All he wanted to do was curl up and enjoy his evening with his friends. He sighed in relief when he saw his apartment building. Magnus hummed a soft tune to himself as he walked up the stairs, but when he reached his floor. He immediately felt a cold chill run down his spine. His apartment door was wide open, making Magnus walk faster towards it. He stopped and his eyes widened as he saw the state his apartment was in. Everything was in pieces. The tv lay smashed on the floor, the sofas were ripped and the glass coffee table was smashed into a million pieces. Every book on Magnus’s shelf was on the floor, the pages ripped out of their spines. The curtains of the windows were ripped and pulled out of the hooks.

He gasped, his hand flying to his mouth. How did some one manage to get in? He had his wards up. No one could get past his wards. “Alec?” He called out desperately. Only the eerie silence greeted him in reply. “Alec!” He yelled, running through every room of the apartment, desperate to find the boy. “Cat! Ragnor!” Still he received no reply. “Fuck. Where are you.” He whispered, pulling at his hair. He took out his phone and cursed again when he remembered it was dead. Magnus ran to his room and connected his phone to the charger. He waved his fingers, making the phone reboot up faster and cursed loudly when he saw the missed calls on his phone.

He quickly rang Ragnor, hoping it wasn’t too late and that what ever had happened hadn’t affected his friends.

***

“Okay. Are you ready?” Cat asked and Ragnor nodded. He started to think about Magnus, letting the image of the warlock into his mind. The colour of his clothes, the colour of his eyeshadow and just as he was about to get a sense of where the warlock was, his phone ringtone startled them both, and pulling them away from the tracking spell. Ragnor threw the shirt aside and took out his phone. He sighed in relief when he saw it was Magnus.

“Where are you?” He said, as soon as he picked up.  
“Ragnor? Thank god! You’re okay? Is Cat and Alexander okay?” Magnus rushed into the phone. Ragnor sighed in relief to hear his friend’s voice. “Yeah. We are fine. We were worried about you. Where are you?” He asked again.

“I just came back from meeting with the client and my apartment is a mess, and you guys are no where to be seen! I think I deserve to ask that question.” Magnus replied. Ragnor sighed. He could see how worried Magnus must have been.

“We are at my cabin in London. Come here. And we will tell you everything.” Ragnor instructed. Magnus murmured and “Okay,” before he hung up.  
“He is okay?” Cat asked and Ragnor nodded. They both set out a sigh in relief and walked back to the living room to tell Alec the good news.

***  
Alec was worried but exhausted. He had no idea why because its not like he had done anything to feel tired, unless baking a cake counted. But after he stepped through the portal he felt his exhaustion run through his body. And when he laid down on the sofa, he couldn’t help but rest his eyes for a few seconds. His mind was still not at ease as he needed to know Magnus was okay. But his body was protesting so he decided to give in. 

As he slept he dreamt of green cat eyes and warm hugs.

***

Magnus sighed as he ended the call with Ragnor. He was relieved to find out that his friends were safe. He looked around his room, searching for things to take with him, when he heard a soft meow sound. He bent down and looked under the bed and saw the Chairman curled up and shaking with fear. “Oh my sweet baby.” Magnus cooed and slowly reached out for the cat. Chairman Meow crawled out and snuggled into Magnus’s arm, purring and giving Magnus’s hand small kitten licks. “You are okay. Daddy’s got you.” He murmured and kissed the cat on his head before magicking some clothes into a duffel bag, _thank god my clothes weren’t destroyed_ , he thought. He also magicked Alec’s clothes into the bag and their toiletries before zipping up the bag and creating a portal.

Before he stepped through, he placed stronger wards onto his apartment and after feeling satisfied that his apartment was safe, he stepped through.

He stepped into the hall way and placed his bag down. The Chairman wouldn’t let go of his arm so he decided to keep hold of the cat. He could hear voices coming from the kitchen so he followed the sound and found his two best friends sat on the kitchen table, talking amongst themselves. Cat saw him first and she came running at him, throwing her arms around his neck. “You’re okay.” She murmured and Magnus nodded. Ragnor was close behind her and he too embraced Magnus into a hug. “You gave us a fright there.” He said and Magnus raised his eyebrow.  
“You’re telling me.” He replied, his tone laced with sarcasm.  
“Well maybe if you picked up your phone, then we could have told you.” Ragnor growled.  
“It was dead!” Magnus replied, glaring at Ragnor.  
“Boys. Calm down. The most important thing is that we are all safe.” Cat intervened. Magnus sighed and nodded.  
“You’re right.” He murmured. “Where’s Alexander?”

“He is in the living room, asleep.” Cat replied. Magnus nodded and walked towards the living room and once he saw the sleeping boy, his heart melted and all the tension that was in his body evaporated. Some strands of Alec’s hair had fallen in front of his eyes and Magnus had the urge to gently push them back. His eyes moved under his eyelids as he dreamt and Magnus wondered what he could be dreaming about. Magnus walked closer and sat down on the floor facing Alec.

When the Chairman saw Alec, he meowed and jumped from Magnus’s arms and into Alec’s back, as the sleeping boy was laying on his stomach. He meowed again, trying to gain Alec’s attention before he started to lick at Alec’s ear.  
Alec groaned as he opened his eyes and Magnus had to stifle his chuckle at how adorable the other boy looked. The hybrid sat up slowly, and his eyes widened when his eyes found Chairman Meow and slowly traveled to Magnus.

“Magnus.” He whispered.

And the warlock felt his heart contract at the sound of his name on Alec’s lips. “You’re here. You’re safe.” He reached for the warlock and Magnus moved forward willingly. He sat beside Alec, who embraced him in a hug, and buried his face into Magnus’s neck. The warlock threw his arms around Alec and clutched at the hair on his nape. He hadn’t realised how worried he was about Alec until he had him in his arms again. “You’re safe,” Alec repeated into his neck and although it wasn’t a question Magnus nodded anyway. The Chairman meowed, feeling ignored and both men chuckled and moved apart slightly. “I’m glad you’re safe too.” Alec murmured as he stroked the cat who meowed and settled himself into Alec’s lap. “I’m sorry that we forgot you, in our rush.” Alec apologised to the cat who meowed again, as if understanding, and gently butted his head against Alec’s arm in forgiveness. As Magnus watched the exchange in amusement, he felt something settle inside his heart. But it was something so _new_ , something so _raw_ , something he hadn’t felt in a long time, that he immediately pushed the feeling away, not wanting to ponder on it for too long.

They were interrupted by Cat and Ragnor who decided to join them and they all settled down to have their talk. “Okay. So start from the beginning.” Magnus stated. Ragnor nodded.

“Alec heard a sound and we got up to investigate and –.”   
“What sound?” Magnus interrupted.  
“It was like … buzzing? Then that faded and I heard a small click followed by a whooshing sound.” Alec answered, stroking Chairman Meow’s fur. Magnus had noted that he did that to calm himself down. “My wards.” Magnus whispered to himself but everyone in the room heard. “Your wards?” Cat asked, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. Magnus nodded. “Yeah. I placed them when –.” He abruptly stopped talking when he remembered that Cat and Ragnor didn’t know about Alec’s second name. And who was after him.

“Anyway, tell me what happened after you heard the noise.” He changed the subject.

“I went to go check it out when we heard voices. They were looking for Alec. So Cat created a portal and we came here… What’s going on Magnus?” Ragnor questioned, looking Magnus in the eye. The warlock sighed and looked at Alec who was also looking back at him. “It was them Mags. It was Maryse and Robert.” Alec whispered. Magnus brought Alec closer and the hybrid settled himself into Magnus side. “I need to tell you something.” Magnus started. Ragnor and Cat leaned forward in anticipation. 

“Alexander is… a Lightwood.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TAN TAN TAAAA!!!!!! 
> 
> How do you think Ragnor and Cat will react?  
> Hmmm *smirks* 
> 
> HOPE Y’ALL ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER
> 
> Ps. If you have theories on how Alec is half Shadowhunter and half warlock, please tell me! I want to know if you guys can guess it or not. ;)


	11. Hold me

“You told us that he had left the building!” Maryse yelled. They were back at the institute, in their (Izzy’s) office. Logically Maryse knew that Bane had indeed left as her husband had showed her the security footage after they came back, but she needed someone to yell at so Raj was her victim. “H-he did. I saw him going towards Jade Wolf.” Raj replied. Maryse gave him a icy glare before dismissing him. Raj didn’t need to be told twice and ran out of the office.

Robert walked into the office and sighed when he saw the fowl mood she was in. “We will find him.” He assured his wife.  
“I just can’t believe that Alec would do such a thing as running off with a warlock. We gave him _everything_. We gave him food and water. We gave him a roof to live under. We could have thrown him onto the streets to fend for himself. But we didn’t. And this is how he repays us?” Maryse ranted, and Robert nodded along as he too felt anger towards the halfbreed.

“When we find him, we will make him obedient so he never does something like this ever again.” Robert vowed and Maryse nodded, solemnly.

***

They were met with silence and stunned faces, once Magnus finished off telling his friends everything that had happened regarding Alec. Both Ragnor and Cat’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out any second. Alec snuggled deeper into Magnus’s chest, not liking their silence. “Say something.” He whispered. Magnus too was feeling nervous about what his friends would say. Cat’s eyes drifted to Alec and she was the first to react. She slowly stood up and walked closer to Alec, whose eyes were bright red with fear. But soon they changed into blue, when Cat came and gently took Alec’s hands in her own. “Alec.” She whispered. Alec moved away from Magnus and sat up. “C-can I hug you?” She asked, hesitantly. Her eyes were filled with tears, her cheeks red. Alec looked at Magnus who smiled in encouragement, before he looked back at Cat and nodded. Cat smiled and slowly placed her arms around Alec’s shoulders, embracing him in a warm hug. Alec melted into the hug as his arms came around the other warlock. “You’re not angry?” He murmured. Cat pulled away and shook her head. Ragnor copying her gesture. “Why would we be angry?” Ragnor asked, gently.

“B-because I am a Lightwood. Because Maryse is my mother and you all hate her… so I thought you would hate me too.” Alec whispered. Magnus’s eyes widened. He had no idea that Alec had his _own_ reason in not telling his friends about his parents. He had thought that Alec hadn’t realised it when Magnus had introduced him and left his last name out. But apparently he did. “Alec that’s not why I didn’t want to tell them.” Magnus spoke up. Alec’s eyes widened.

“It isn’t?” He asked and Magnus shook his head.  
“No b- _dear_.” Magnus mentally slapped himself for what he was about to call Alec.

_Baby_

_Where did that come from anyway?_ He thought.

Cat and Ragnor both noticed the slip up and exchanged amused glances between themselves. Luckily Alec didn’t. “Then… why did you not want to tell them?” Alec asked.

Magnus rolled his eyes. “Because you guys are always lecturing me in getting myself into trouble and I thought if I mentioned that Alec is a Lightwood and all the shit his family is causing then I would have to suffer a long ass lecture from you two.” Magnus replied, looking at his friends. “Especially you.” He pointed at Ragnor who rolled his eyes.

“Oh your lecture is coming. But for now I’m just overwhelmed and proud of Alec to give it to you.” Ragnor replied. Alec’s head shot up and he looked at Ragnor wide eyes.

“You’re proud of me?” He asked, shock in his voice. Ragnor nodded. “Why?” 

“Because you’ve been through so much. Your parents did all those horrible things to you and are still trying to catch you, but your still so strong and have a smile on your face… well, most of the time.” Ragnor replied. Alec smiled and he felt his cheeks burn with a blush.

“I’m proud of you too. And we are going to help you. So you can be free of those monsters.” Cat spoke up. Alec let out a relieved sigh and nodded.

“Thank you.” He murmured and everyone smiled.

They changed the subject after their deep conversation and soon enough everyone was tired from the days events. Cat was the first to retire to bed, followed by Ragnor. “You guys will have to share the other guest room.” Ragnor stated as he got up to leave the room. Magnus stilled and looked at Alec who was too busy keeping his eyes open to see Magnus’s change in body language.

Ragnor chuckled to himself and walked out. “You’ll thank me later.” He muttered and Magnus swore he wanted to kill Ragnor. Alec stood up and looked at Magnus. “You okay?” He asked. Magnus tore his eye away from where Ragnor had just disappeared from and looked at Alec. “I’m perfect.” He replied and stood up. “Come on let’s get to bed.” He walked out of the room with Alec right behind him.

Once they reached the bedroom, Magnus felt his heartbeat increase as he saw that there was one double bed. He turned to look at Alec but didn’t see any nervousness coming from the hybrid. Even his eyes were still blue in calmness. Just as Alec was getting into bed Magnus announced. “I… I will sleep on the floor.”  
Alec looked at Magnus with a confused look. “What? Why?” He asked.

_Because it will be awkward sharing a bed with you not to mention hard to control myself since I probably have a teeny weeny crush on you._

“Because you might be uncomfortable.” Magnus replied instead of what his brain was screaming at him.

Alec shook his head. “No I… I won’t.” Alec replied.  
“Are you sure Alexander?” Magnus asked and Alec nodded.  
“Yeah I want…” he paused and looked down at his hands, a blush covering his face.  
“What do you want Alexander?” The warlock gently asked, as he sat on the bed facing Alec. The hybrid’s cheeks were red with embarrassment but his eyes were determined. “I want you to hold me. I want to feel safe and w-when I’m with you… I feel safe.” He whispered. His eyes wide with fear at his confession.

Magnus felt his heart drop but beat faster all at the same time. He stared at Alec for a few seconds with wide eyes, not knowing what to say, as he couldn’t get over how precious this boy was. It was long enough for Alec to take Magnus’s silence the wrong way and his eyes immediately changed from calm to hurt as Magnus saw the colour change into a light grey. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t know what I was thinking. You can sleep on the bed and I will sleep on the floor… I’m sorry.” He whispered and moved to get up.

Magnus grabbed his arm, gently and pulled him into a hug. Alec stilled before he melted into Magnus’s arms and the warlock felt the exact moment Alec became a pile of goo in his arms. “Don’t apologise. I was just shocked because no one has said something like that to me. And I love that fact that you feel safe in my arms. You have nothing to apologise for.” Magnus murmured, playing with Alec’s hair.  
Alec slowly pulled away from the hug and fiddled with one of Magnus’s rings. “You… don’t think I’m pathetic o-or clingy?” Alec whispered, not meeting Magnus’s eyes, afraid of his answer.  
“No!” Magnus practically yelled and cursed at Maryse and Robert for what seemed like the 17000th time. “No.” He repeated gently, tilting Alec’s head up with his index finger which he placed under his chin. 

“It’s okay to ask for physical comfort. It’s okay to want to feel safe.” Magnus searched Alec’s eyes, trying to convince him that he was telling the truth.  
“Really?” Alec asked and nervously bit his bottom lip, making Magnus’s heartbeat increase once again.  
The warlock nodded. “Really really.” He replied and nuzzled his nose with Alec’s, making him giggle.

They got into bed and Alec buried his face in Magnus’s neck, inhaling the warlock’s scent and letting himself relax. Magnus’s arms were around Alec, one underneath Alec’s neck and the other over his waist. They were both laying on their sides, with their legs intervened.  
“Ma-nus?” Alec whispered, his voice slightly muffled from where he had his head tucked into Magnus’s neck. The warlock hummed.  
“You’re my best friend.” Alec murmured. Magnus felt pain run down his chest, but he forced a small smile and softly kissed Alec’s forehead. “Good. Because you’re my best friend too.” He replied, hoping his voice wasn’t giving anything away. He felt Alec’s lips form a smile on his neck before sleep claimed him and they both let their dreams invade their minds.

***

The noise of a camera clicking pulled Magnus out of his dreamless sleep and just as he blinked his eyes open, he saw the bedroom door closing behind someone who had just exited. His sleepy mind did not process exactly what that sound actually was. He groaned and squinted his eyes as the sun was hitting him right in the face, before he turned to look at the sleeping figure beside him. Alec had his head tucked into Magnus’s neck, an arm draped on top of Magnus’s waist and a leg wrapped around Magnus’s thigh. His hair had fallen in front of his eyes and his soft breaths tickled Magnus’s neck. He looked oh so innocent, and beautiful that Magnus had a hard time stopping himself from reaching out and kissing those soft plump lips, which were slightly apart as the boy slept. He slowly pulled his arm away from where it lay underneath Alec’s head and got out of bed, leaving Alec sleeping soundly on the bed.

He went into the bathroom to freshen up before stepping out and with one last look at the sleeping angel on the bed, he stepped out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen.

*** 

Magnus walked into the kitchen and saw Ragnor telling something to Cat who turned to look at him just as he sat down. “What?” He asked, not liking how they were just smirking with something in their eyes. “Nothing.” Cat replied, absentmindedly and sipped her coffee with mischievousness in her eyes.  
Ragnor hid his smirk behind his mug as he too was looking at Magnus rather strangely.

“Just say it already!”  
Cat giggled and Ragnor snorted. “Say what?” Cat teased, pretending to be oblivious.  
“What ever it is that is making you act like this.” Magnus grumbled and folded his arms across his chest.  
Cat looked at Ragnor before looking back at Magnus. “Show him.” She said, and Magnus’s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. Ragnor took out his phone and after a few seconds of flicking through his phone he placed it in front of Magnus. The warlock rolled his eyes and looked at the picture, his whole body freezing. His eyes widened and looked up at his friends. “What is this?” He asked. Cat and Ragnor merely smiled wider.

“You tell us.” Ragnor replied.

Magnus sighed as he looked at the picture again. It was an image of Magnus and Alec in bed, wrapped around each other, asleep. Now the camera clicking noise made much more sense to Magnus. He had to admit, the position that they were in looked very… intimate and he couldn’t really blame his friends for thinking there was more going on than there actually was. “It’s nothing.” He sighed. “Alec just asked me to sleep next to him, because he was feeling frightened and alone.”

Cat raised an eyebrow. “But you like him.” It wasn’t a question, more like an observation or a fact. Magnus stiffened.

“Come on Mags, it’s obvious how much you care for the boy.” Ragnor sighed and Cat nodded along in agreement.  
“Obviously I care for him. He is my responsibility and after what his family have done to him it’s my duty to take care of him.” Magnus argued, rubbing at his head which was starting to hurt. It was too early in the morning to have this conversation. Cat looked at her friend with pity in her eyes. “Magnus.” She started. “It’s okay to like him and want to take care of him.”  
“I don’t.” Magnus replied stubbornly, gritting his teeth.  
“Oh yeah? Then why were you going to call him baby yesterday?” Ragnor smirked and crossed his arms across his chest. Magnus’s eyes widened and he looked at Ragnor. “W-what?” He stammered and immediately cursed himself.

“Don’t deny it. We have known you for a very long time.” Ragnor replied. “We know all your ways of showing affection to your loved ones.”

The warlock sighed. “Okay. Maybe I do like him a tiny bit… but that doesn’t mean he likes me. Or that I should do anything about my feelings.” Cat gently patted Magnus’s arm.

“Has he told you he doesn’t like you back?” She asked and Magnus shook his head.

“Cat. He doesn’t need to. I just know. I am his best friend. That’s all I am to him. And that’s all how it’s going to be.”  
Cat opened her mouth to say something but stopped when they all saw Alec walk in, wearing one of Magnus’s large sweaters. The warlock had to bite his tongue, _hard_. To stop himself from letting out an embarrassing whine at the sight of Alec in his clothes. Ragnor hid his smirk behind his mug and Cat only looked at Magnus with slight worry.  
“Morning guys.” Alec greeted and sat beside Magnus, who was having trouble keeping his hands to himself. “Good morning Alec. What would you like to eat?” Cat replied, deciding to do the talking. Magnus sent her a grateful look.

***

They were trying to keep a low profile, trying to keep Alec safe. They had turned off all their phones so they couldn’t be tracked and Ragnor, Cat and Magnus had all placed wards together around the house, whilst Alec watched in amazement. “So it’s like putting up invisible walls?” Alec asked. He was standing with his arms crossed around his chest as the weather in England was very cold this time of the year. Well it was cold most of the year anyway. “Yeah. Like a force field.” Magnus replied.

“Like how Hermoine does it in, when they are camping in those woods.” Alec muttered to himself and Magnus bit his lip, hiding his smile. Ragnor had a huge library, much bigger than Magnus’s back home, and Alec spent most of his time in there. He was currently on the Harry Potter series and from the looks of it, on the last one too.

Magnus had magically placed alerts around his apartment back in Brooklyn, so if anything were to happen they would be alerted. It all seemed pretty quiet, much to everyone’s relief. They knew something was going to happen as the Lightwood parents weren’t ones to give up so easily. But what was going to happen? That was the question.

***

Jace and Izzy slowly walked towards the institute. They had gone by to Magnus’s apartment, only to find it empty. Izzy had even tried calling Alec’s phone but it went straight to voicemail. To say she was worried would be an understatement. “We need to do something, otherwise mother and father will lock Alec up, or worse.” Izzy stressed and Jace nodded in agreement. They walked into Jace’s room and he saw the exact moment when Izzy’s eyes lit up with an idea. “Tessa!” She practically shouted. Jace raised an eyebrow in question.

“What about her?” He asked, not getting what Izzy was saying.

“She is like Alec!” Izzy elaborated. “The clave knows she exists and they don’t mind.”  
“I mean why would they? It’s not like the Downworld and the Shadowhunters are against each other. Times have changed. We live in harmony with everyone.” Jace realised. Izzy nodded.  
“We have the proof that Alec existed and what mother and father have done to him… all we need to do is show it to the clave!” Izzy’s eyes were bright with excitement, for finally having an idea.

“Izzy do realise what you are saying? You’re talking about putting mother and father into jail! And having their runes stripped off!” Jace argued. Izzy nodded. She knew exactly what she was saying. “Jace. Mom and dad were in the circle. Working with Valentine, trying to get rid of the downworld! And yes that was a long time ago, but look what they did to Alec! They kept him locked up under the same roof as us and we didn’t even know it! They took my brother away from me, they took _our_ brother away from us. Max doesn’t even know Alec exists! We need to help Alec. He has gone through so much already.”

Jace held contact with Izzy’s eyes before slowly nodding. “Okay. Let’s do it.”


	12. Heart and bones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! 
> 
> I’m kind of going through the writers block phase which is why it took me longer to post than usual. 
> 
> And also I have a cold right now... so I’m not feeling too good. 
> 
> But anyways... hope you guys will like this chapter!

“Do you have the boy?”

“Not yet. I forgot how slow and infuriating the Lightwoods are.”

“Work faster. She is getting inpatient.”

***

“Hey Jace! What can I do for you?” Tessa’s voice came through the phone, all bright and cheery. Jace felt slightly bad for disturbing her honeymoon but it was important so he knew it couldn’t wait. “Hey. We want to talk to you about something.” He replied. There was a silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds before he heard a sigh. “Yeah okay. Text me where you want to meet.” She replied before hanging up.

“She agreed to meet us.” Jace turned to Izzy who smiled and nodded.  
“Good…Also we need to try ringing Alec again.” She took out her phone to ring her brother but frowned when it went straight to voicemail. “I hope Magnus is keeping him safe.” She muttered and Jace smiled her encouragingly. “He will.”

***

Alec clenched his fist in front of him and concentrated on the book that was lying on the coffee table in the cabin. Magnus and Cat were sat next to him, watching him as he tried to lift the object up with his magic. Alec felt magic radiate through him, and it kind of tingled all around his body, which he liked. His eyes were changing colour rapidly, not staying on one particular colour, as they always did when he performed magic. The book slowly floated from the table and hovered before coming towards Alec. He concentrated on bringing the book towards him, feeling sweat trickle down his forehead.  
“That’s it, Alexander. You’re doing it.” Magnus murmured in encouragement. Alec felt his heart leap at how Magnus always said his full name.  
He kind of hated how his body reacted to when Magnus said his full name, as it confused him and he hated being confused. He twisted his fist to the right, bringing the book closer until a loud banging of the door opening made him flinch and break out of his concentration, the book flying in the opposite direction and hitting the bookshelf, before falling to the floor.

All three faces turned to look at Ragnor who had just walked in to the living room with a loud bang and making his presence known. All three faces glared at him and Magnus felt a small satisfaction to see Ragnor looking sheepishly sorry.  
“Sorry.” He murmured. Alec swallowed but didn’t say anything and Magnus wondered what was going on inside his head. Alec stood up and mumbled out a small “excuse me” before stepping out of the room. Cat and Ragnor turned to look at Magnus. “What?” He asked.  
“What happened?” Cat asked and Magnus merely shrugged. “Well… go and find out.” She urged, making Magnus roll his eyes and walked after Alec.

***

They walked into the mundane coffee shop and sat down in one of the booths. Jace looking around, trying to see if there was anything suspicious around, making Izzy roll her eyes and slap Jace lightly on the arm. “Stop that.” She scolded. “You make yourself stand out by having that face.” Jace rolled his eyes and turned to look at the entrance where Tessa was walking in from. “She’s here.” He murmured and both Lightwoods turned to look at the woman walking towards them. “Hello, Jace. Izzy.” She greeted as she sat down.

“Hey. How are you.” Izzy replied.  
“I’m good. But you didn’t summon me here to ask me about my welfare, now did you?” She replied, skipping straight to the point.

Izzy smiled her pearl white teeth. “You’re right.” She agreed. “We called you here to talk to you about Alec.”

Tessa smiled, not looking surprised, much to Izzy and Jace’s surprise. “Yeah I guessed you would come to me sooner or later. Alec and I have met and he is very precious being.” She replied and Izzy smiled at the mention of her brother.

“The Clave knows you exist. Right?” Jace asked and Tessa nodded, her eyebrows furrowing. “Because the Clave aren’t against downworlders anymore.” Jace continued. A few years ago, the Clave had made laws about equality between all the shadow creature; warlock, vampire, werewolves and seelies. Marriage between Shadowhunter and downworlder was made legal, and people no longer looked down on them. The only people who did so, were from the old generation, the ones who liked how things used to be, the racist bastards who wanted all downworlders to die. People like Valentine. “Yes. Ever since Valentine and his circle members angered Raziel in their mission to end all downworlders, the Clave decided that the law of equality should be made.” Tessa answered.  
“So if we told the Clave about Alec. Do you think they will protect him?” Izzy asked and Tessa’s eyes widened, before a sad smile appeared on her face. “I don’t think it’s that easy. There are still people that are apart of the Clave that are from the time Valentine was alive. People who secretly agreed with his beliefs. People like that just don’t disappear, because their ring leader died.” She exhaled.

The circle had been hunted by the Clave and Valentine had been murdered, much to everyone’s relief. 

Izzy banged her hand on the table in frustration. “There’s got to be something that we can do!” Her eyes were wide with fear. Not for herself but for her brother, the brother she never knew existed. Tessa nodded in agreement. “I’m not saying everyone in the Clave are the same. There is Consul Penhallow. Her daughter is married to a half seelie. She is one of the kinder souls among the Clave. Talk with her first.” Izzy and Jace both nodded.

They both got up to leave but were stopped when Tessa grabbed Izzy’s arm. “Be careful. What your are doing... It is a dangerous game. If the wrong people were to found out about this, your lives are not he only ones at risk. Alec’s is as well.” Izzy nodded and walked out of the coffee shop with Jace by her side.

She was going to get justice for her brother.

***

Magnus found Alec in their bedroom. He had his back to the door and was facing the window, watching the sunset. Magnus knocked softly on the door, making his presence known before sitting down next to Alec. For a while, they just sat in silence. It was a comfortable silence. The kind silence that could go one for hours, and Magnus wouldn’t feel bored or awkward. “Am I burden to you?” Alec whispered. At first Magnus was shocked Alec had spoken at all. Then he was shocked at _what_ Alec had just said. “What?” He breathed out, his eye wide in disbelief.

“It’s been days now. Since we came here. And I still can’t do magic properly.” Alec continued. Magnus sighed and reached for Alec’s hand.

“Alexander.” He started.

“You are not a burden. How could you be? You’re my best friend.” Alec looked up at Magnus and smiled. Magnus smiled back. “Learning magic isn’t something that can be rushed. It takes time. Do you think I’ve always been this awesome at magic?” Alec rolled his eyes but shook his head. “That’s right. As much as it pains me to say this, even _I_ struggled at first. But that’s normal. Yeah you are struggling but you will get through it. Bare in mind, that you haven’t done magic since you were born. So it’s going to be hard for you. But you will get there.” He squeezed Alec’s hand and smiled when Alec squeezed back.

Alec searched Magnus’s eyes for a sign to show that he was lying but all he got was honest and warm eyes staring back at him. He had never had met someone like Magnus before. So warm and loving, and so majestic in his quirky smirks and mischievous eyes. At first glance Magnus looked like the type of man who would make you fall in love with him and then break your heart. But once Alec got to know him, he quickly realised that _Magnus_ was the one who had suffered heartbreak more than anyone.

Alec felt his heartbeat increase, almost painfully, inside his chest as Magnus gazed back at him. He didn’t know what this feeling was. He had never felt this way before. But he knew _something_ had changed.

He felt it.

Inside his heart and bones.

He felt it.

Every time Magnus would get near or called him by his full name.

He felt it.

When they would sleep next to each other and Magnus’s soft breaths would tickle Alec’s skin as they slept. This feeling left him confused and kind of scared.

Scared of where this feeling could possibly take him.

***

“Maryse. I have something. You are going to want to see this.” Hodge’s face popped into through the gap of the ajar office door. Maryse and Robert stood up and followed Hodge into the ops centre. It was deserted, which made sense since it was the middle of the night. “My device. The one that could break through a warlocks wards.” Hodge started. “Can also detect any portal activity.” Maryse raised her left eyebrow in question.

“You don’t mean…” her voice trailed off as she understood what Hodge was getting at.

“The reason why no one was home? Because they portalled out.” Hodge continued.  
“We knew that already.” Robert grumbled, clearly getting impatient at Hodge’s waffling. Hodge nodded and smirked. “Yes… But we didn’t know _who_ made the portal.”  
“And we do now?” Robert asked. Hodge nodded. He typed something into a computer and a woman’s face popped up on the screen. “Catarina Loss.” Maryse read out. “A warlock.”

“She opened the portal and went where?” Robert asked. Hodge smirked and clicked at something on the computer. “Now we don’t know the _exact_ place. But… we do know where about.”

“London.” They all read it out from the screen, simultaneously. 

Maryse smirked, Robert mimicking her reaction. “Well done.” She patted Hodge on the shoulder. “We are going to London. And see what we find.” She suggested.

Both men nodded, feeling satisfaction run through their veins as they knew they were getting closer.

***

Hodge snuck into the library, but before he did, he looked behind him to see if anyone was coming. When the coast was clear, he stepped through the big oak doors and winced when the made a loud banging noise after shutting behind him. He walked down the swirling staircase and walked towards the fire. He felt the hairs prickle at his neck and turned around to be faced with his son., who was stepping through the portal. 

Sebastian.

“Hello father. It’s been too long.” His son greeted. Hodge smirked and hovered his stele above his shape shifting rune, turning his face back to normal. “Son. I have missed you.” Valentine greeted and embraced Sebastian into a hug.  
“So I hear you have news.” Sebastian raised an eyebrow and Valentine smirked.

“Yes I do. The boy is in London.” Valentine replied. Sebastian grinned at his father.

“Mother will be pleased.” He replied.

“Indeed.” Valentine smirked.  
“We shall take him to her. And please her, like she deserves.” Sebastian continued. “But there is a question that has been niggling in my mind… for a while now.” He tilted his head, his blonde hair falling in front of his eyes. “How was this… _halfbreed_ conceived and why is he so special?”  
Valentine smirked. “It was all Maryse and her stupidity.”  
Sebastian felt shock run through him. “She slept with a demon?” Valentine shook his head and threw his head back in laughter. “No my dear boy.” He patted Sebastian’s shoulder. “The boy is like the way he is… because of his mothers ignorance towards the power demons posses.”  
“Sounds like her.” Sebastian nodded and Valentine chuckled. He opened his mouth to answer when the both heard footsteps, which were getting louder and louder by the second. “You need to go.” Valentine ushered his son through the portal which was still opened.

“Till next time Father.” Sebastian departed through the portal and it closed up behind him. Valentine quickly swiped his stele over his shape shifting rune and felt his body transition back into the body of Hodge. He looked around the library, before stepping out of the doors and towards his bedroom. 

***

Little did the Morgenstern man know that the youngest Lightwood had heard everything. 

 


	13. Freezing cold water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tiny weeny bit of torture.

Max loved to read. If he were given the choice he would read all day. His parents were busy with something and as much as his mother tried to lie and say it was nothing, Max knew better. He knew his mother would get stressed and worked up when something was not falling into place the way she wanted to.

Izzy and Jace were the same. Only difference being that they had told max that something was going on. They just couldn’t tell him what that exactly was because he was too young. The fact that his family were busy, gave Max the opportunity to read all day, and way past his bed time.

It was past midnight when he snuck into the library. He had found a hiding place where no one could see him and he could be perfectly comfortable reading there all night long. There was a compartment under the swirling stairs, which was perfect for the small Lightwood. He fit in nicely and had even brought a pillow or two the last time he was here to make himself comfortable. It was his secret hiding place.

He had only just started reading, when he heard the footsteps. At first he thought it was his mother, come to find him. But the footsteps sounded heavy and not the soft click-click noise his mother’s shoes made when she walked. He opened the small door, slightly, to see who the footsteps belonged to. He saw Hodge standing next to the fireplace and breathed out a relieved sigh as it wasn’t his mother or father. But his breath caught up in his throat when he saw a portal opening and a blonde haired man stepping out.

“Hello father. It’s been too long.” The blonde hair man greeted. His voice sent shivers down Max’s spine and the use of the term ‘father’ confused Max. The youngest Lightwood felt the exact moment his breathing stopped; when he saw Hodge, how loving teacher, transform himself into another man. The man had black scary eyes which reeked with something sinister. The man wasn’t his beloved rune teacher anymore. He held himself with confidence, with his head held high and a big smirk on his face.

Max couldn’t see the blond haired man’s face as he had his back to him, but from his posture, Max knew that he wasn’t exactly… good.   
“Son. I have missed you.” The man with the scary eyes greeted and pulled the new guy into a hug.   
“So I hear you have news.” The blonde man spoke and the man who was once Max’s beloved runes teacher, smirked. His smirk made Max’s heart drop and goosebumps to appear on the back of his neck, making him shiver.   
“Yes I do. The boy is in London.” The scary man replied.   
“Mother will be pleased.” Replied the blonde haired man.   
“Indeed.”

Max felt confusion settle inside of him. He wondered who they were talking about.

“We shall take him to her. And please her, like she deserves.” The blonde haired man continued. “But there is a question that has been niggling in mind… for a while now… How was this… _halfbreed_ conceived?”   
The former runes teacher smirked, once again. “It was all Maryse and her stupidity.”

Max felt his whole body freeze at the mention of his mother’s name. His eyes widened and this time it felt like some one had spilled a bucket of freezing cold water all over his body. He couldn’t breathe properly, causing him to grip the edge of the small door, very tightly.

“She slept with a demon?” The blonde haired man asked. Max wasn’t stupid. He knew that when people loved each other very much, they engaged in a magic kiss, which made them have a baby. That was what he had been told by his parents. But he couldn’t imagine his mother loving a demon. She loved his dad. Max was sure of it. The man with the black eyes shook his head and threw his head back in laughter. “No my dear boy.” He patted the blonde haired man’s shoulder.

Max sighed in relief. He knew he was right!

“The boy is like the way he is… because of his mother’s ignorance towards the power demons posses.”

Max tilted his head in confusion as he didn’t understand the meaning behind the words that were spoken.   
“Sounds like her.” The blonde haired man replied and Max heard the man who once looked like his tutor chuckle. The man opened his mouth to answer when they all heard footsteps, which were getting louder and louder by the second. “You need to go.” The man with the black eyes ushered his son through the portal which was still opened.

“Till next time Father.” The blonde hair departed through the portal and it closed up behind him. The man with the black eyes quickly swiped his stele over his shape shifting rune and Max saw his body transition back into the body of Hodge.

Max watched the intruder walk towards the big oak doors of the library. The youngest Lightwood could hear his own breathing, sharp and loud in the eerie silence and was afraid that the man who looked like Hodge could hear it too. He placed his hand in front of his mouth, to quieten his breathing, when he saw the man stop on his way out and turn around. His eyes roamed the whole library, as if searching for something and Max felt his blood run cold. The man’s eyes searched the library before he turned around again and walked out of the door.

Max let out a sigh of relief and sat back into his cushion, trying to digest the conversation he had just heard.

***

It was late when Izzy and Jace finally returned back to the institute. They had come across a nest of demons on their way back from the coffee shop. So when they finally stepped foot inside the institute doors, both of the Lightwoods sighed in relief. They were both tired, wet (as it had begun to rain) and hungry. Both just wanting to fall into bed. Their rooms were next to the library, so after placing their ichor - covered weapons in the weapons room, they slowly made their way towards their bedrooms. Their footsteps were making loud echoes in the quiet hallway of the institute. “Do you think we should tell Max?” Izzy asked. “About Alec.”

Jace sighed. He was too tired to think of stuff like that. “I don’t know.” He eventually replied. Izzy didn’t know either. After what Tessa has warned them about what they were putting themselves into, neither of them wanted to get Max involved in that. But on the other hand, they both really wanted to tell their brother about Alec. He had a right to know. 

They were nearly at their doors, when Jace stopped walking abruptly. “Did you hear that?” He whispered. Izzy stopped too and looked at Jace with panic in her eyes. “Hear what?” She whispered back. Jace held up a finger, waiting for the same noise again. They both stilled when they heard low murmurings. “That.” Jace answered in a hushed tone.

As soon as the noise started, it ended pretty quickly. And before they had a chance to move or to get ready, the doors started to open. To reveal a tired looking Hodge.   
“Hodge?” Both Izzy and Jace screeched at the same time. Hodge raised an eyebrow at their strange behaviour. “Yes?” He asked, wearing a dull look on his face.

“What was that noise we heard?” Izzy asked. “Those voices.”

Hodge’s eyes widened before he schooled his features to look normal again. “That was me reading out loud.” He replied, before turning and walking away, without another word.

“That was weird.” Jace whispered. Izzy merely nodded, too tired to think of a reply. They both wandered into their rooms and fell into bed, falling fast asleep.

***

Alec squirmed and turned, his eyes shut tight, sweat running down his forehead. Murmuring something too quiet to be made into proper words.

_“Where’s my mummy?” I asked, looking at the tall figures who were standing in front of me. One was wearing a doctor’s uniform. He seemed more sympathetic compared to the other one, who was just in a pair of jeans and a top. He had a hard face, eyes that were empty. “Your mother has put you in here. You are not her son anymore. You hear me? You are a monster! A filthy monster! Some one who deserves to die!” The man bellowed in my face._

_I didn’t understand what was going on. One minute, I was playing outside with Izzy, then a demon had come out of nowhere. After mother had killed the demon, she had started screaming and crying, when she looked at me. Called me bad words. And before I knew it, I was being dragged into this room._

_The man who was wearing the doctors uniform walked closer and I saw what was in his hand. “Now, we need you to relax. This will hurt less if you don’t squirm.” The doctor said and I had a hard time believing him. In his hand he was holding a large bag. He took out a small knife and held it out to examine before deciding that it was good enough and placing the bag on the floor. “I’m just going to cut a small cut on your chest. Okay?” The man told me. My eyes widened and I shook my head._

_“No! No! Get away from me.” I screamed, tears falling from my eyes. Through my blurry eyes I saw the doctor nod at the other man, who reached for the bag and took out ropes. Then he took my right arm and tied me down to the bed, doing the same with my other arm and both of my legs. All the while, I tried. I tried to kick and scream, I tried to get them off of me, I tried to get them to leave me alone. But all my efforts were in vain as once I was all tied up, I couldn’t move._

_The doctor came closer and I felt my heartbeat increase by the second. He brought the knife towards my naked chest and pressed the blade on the skin. “Please… please…” I whimpered. I knew I sounded pathetic but I had no choice. I couldn’t let him cut me._

_But my whimpers didn’t change anything as the doctor applied pressure to the blade and it cut into my skin. My eyes widened, fresh tears spilling out, down my cheeks. Screams filled the room. My head spun and it took me a few seconds to register that the screams belonged to me. They poured out from my throat, making it sore. “Stop! I beg you! P…please stop.” I sobbed. “It hurts…. It h-hurts...”_

“It hurts… please stop!”

“Alexander! Alec! Alec wake up!”

Alec awoke, gasping for air. His eyes red rimmed, tear filled. His irises swirling with the colour red, with fear. His cheeks red and his forehead sticky with sweat. He scanned the room, until his eyes landed on Magnus. Who seemed to be saying something, but the ringing in Alec’s ears was too loud to hear what Magnus was saying.

But slowly, Alec felt his breaths calm down, his hands still shaking, which Magnus seemed to notice too as he quickly took them both in his and brought them up to his lips. Kissing the back of each hand, gently. “You’re okay… You’re okay.” Magnus was saying, over and over again until the words were imprinted in Alec’s mind. He took another deep breath and released it slowly, trying to calm down his racing heart. He looked at Magnus. Like _really_ looked at Magnus and saw that the other man had no make up on, no jewellery on. He was completely and utterly bare. He looked tired, and Alec felt bad for waking him up in the middle of the night. “I’m sorry.” He whispered, once his breathing was somewhat back to normal. Magnus was still rubbing Alec’s hands, even though they had stopped shaking, but he stopped and looked up at Alec. “Why are you apologising?” He asked, tilting his head,  making his hair fall in front of his eyes. In that moment, all Alec wanted to do was gently push the strand of hair aside, so he could see Magnus’s beautiful cat eyes again. “For… for waking you up.” Alec muttered. Magnus sighed.

“Alexander. You have nothing to be sorry for.” He whispered, moving Alec’s hands back to his lips and placing soft kisses on them again. The gesture made Alec’s stomach erupt with butterflies and Alec found himself actually _liking_ the feeling. The feeling of being taken care of. He had never been taken care of… at least not since his warlock mark came and he was thrown into his very own prison. It felt different and rather strange, but all the while amazing.

They stayed silent for a few minutes, neither knowing what to say. After a while Alec shifted and took his hands back from Magnus’s, the movement breaking Magnus out of his thoughts. He looked at Alec with worried eyes. “Do you want to talk about it?” He asked, gently. Alec thought about what he wanted to say. No, he didn’t want to talk about it as he would have to relive it all over again. But on the other hand, Magnus made everything better.

“I don’t know.” Alec finally muttered, feeling lame. Magnus wasn’t having any of that. He just smiled and nodded. “Okay, let do something.” He suggested.   
“Like what?” Alec asked. Magnus shrugged.   
“I don’t know. What do you want to do?” Magnus asked. Alec thought about it for a moment. “I want to eat ice cream.” He blurted out, then immediately blushed when he saw Magnus surprised look which quickly turned to an amused look.

“Okay! Let’ go down to the kitchen and raid Ragnor’s stash.” He winked and climbed out of bed, with Alec following behind.

Magnus was pleasantly surprised by Alec’s sudden craving and when he saw the beautiful blush spread across his face, Magnus internally screamed. They both tip toed to the kitchen, Alec trailing behind with the blanket wrapped around him, looking adorable. Magnus opened the freezer and pulled out all the ice cream flavours. “Okay… so we have… Vanilla. Chocolate… oooh Oreo hmmm. That’s nice. What else?” He was basically talking to himself, making Alec giggle as he watched him. “We also have mango and pistachio.” Magnus finished and looked up at Alec. “Which do you want?”

Alec looked around at his choices. “I will have the… Chocolate and the Oreo flavours. Please.” He replied. Magnus grinned and got a bowl out of the cupboard.

“Excellent choice Mr Lightwood.” Magnus teased, making Alec snigger.

“Why thank you, Mr Bane.” Alec teased back and immediately blushed. Magnus chuckled at the boy’s reply. “What are you having?” Alec asked.   
“I am having the Oreo and the vanilla flavours.” Magnus replied and as he scooped up the ice cream into their bowls, peaceful silence settled around them. In the distance, Alec could hear an owl hooting and the creatures of the night moving about. The cabin was surrounded by a forest, which made it easier for them to hide.

After Magnus finished scooping up the ice cream, they both grabbed their bowls and walked outside to the front porch where there was a swing. They sat down and dug in, both moaning at the delicious taste that erupted in their mouths.

“The dream was about the first time I was hurt by those people.” Alec whispered. Magnus turned to look at him. “They were cutting me open and…” He held back a sob. “Magnus… it hurt so much.” He whispered, still remembering the amount of pain. Magnus placed his bowl down, doing the same with Alec’s and embraced him with a tight hug. “Shhh…” He soothed. “They will never get you again. I promise.”

  
Alec returned the hug and buried his face in Magnus’s neck, letting his tears fall.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all are enjoying this! 
> 
> And I swear the slow burn is killing me too! But I’m afraid they are just not there yet. :( 
> 
> but... they will be soon;)


	14. The ghost of his lips

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the plot thickens!

They sat there for a while, Alec had fallen asleep with his head tucked into Magnus’s neck and the blanket wrapped around the two of them. Magnus gazed at the sunrise, whilst stroking Alec’s hair. It was when Alec shivered because of the cold, despite having the blanket, Magnus decided it was time they went inside before either of them became sick. Magnus slowly stood up and scooped Alec up, bridal style, and carried him inside and into their bedroom. Where he lay the sleeping boy down gently. He was just about leave the room and go make breakfast, when he felt a small tug on his hand, followed by a whisper. “Don’t go.”

Magnus turned to looked at Alec who had his eyes open half way. “Please. Stay.” Alec continued in a small voice. Magnus nodded and crawled into the bed. Alec moved closer to Magnus and wrapped his arms and legs around the warlock then snuggled into his chest.

Magnus still hadn’t quite gotten over how cuddly Alec got. No one had ever given him _this_ many hugs and snuggles before. He liked it. He liked the fact that Alec hugged him for comfort. It was… nice. To feel _wanted_. Even if it was platonic, it was still nice. “Are you sure you’re not part koala?” Magnus teased, partly because he wanted to break the silence and partly because he wanted to hear Alec’s beautiful laughter. Magnus smiled when he felt the small movement of Alec’s giggles. “Yup.” He replied, before snuggling closer.

The silence settled over them again after that and Magnus thought Alec had fallen asleep again. So he was surprised when Alec spoke, breaking the silence. “You don’t mind. Do you?” Alec hesitantly asked. “You don’t mind me… always hugging or snuggling close?” Magnus’s heart broke at the boy’s question. He moved his head so they both had eye contact. “Alexander… like I said the night you wanted me to hold you. I don’t mind. So you need to get the idea that I am going to push you away, out of your pretty little head.” Magnus replied. Alec bit his lip and nodded, slightly blushing.

“I think I like physical contact with you because… well… firstly because you’re very cuddly and always warm.” He blushed bright red at his confession, making Magnus smirk.

“I am?” Magnus asked and Alec nodded, shyly.

“Yeah. But also… b-because I haven’t felt somebody’s arms around me in… _years_. I haven’t felt safe a-and taken care of in somebody’s arms in a long long time…. Until you came along.” He didn’t blush this time. His eyes held determination, as if he _needed_ to tell Magnus how he felt. Magnus’s eyebrows rose in surprise and in amazement. How could this sweet innocent boy keep making him into a pile of goo, without even realising it? “You never cease to amaze me Alec.” He whispered. Alec beamed, his shy eyes shining.  
“In good ways I hope.” He whispered back. Magnus’s insides melted at Alec’s small attempt to flirt.

Well… at least Magnus _thought_ it was flirting.

It was in that moment, Magnus realised how close they had gotten. He could feel Alec’s breath on his lips and as if sensing the mood change, Alec leaned forward, not breaking eye contact. Magnus did the same, moving slightly forward until he could feel the ghost of his lips and the small pressure of their noses grazing each other’s, gently.

Their lips were millimetres apart and seconds away from touching and –

“Magnus! Alec!” Ragnor and Cat barged into the door, breathing heavily. Alec and Magnus both flinched apart and sat up, looking at the two intruders with wide eyes. Magnus was just about to open his mouth and yell at his friends when the look on Cat and Ragnor’s faces made him stop, abruptly.

“We have a problem.” Ragnor informed glumly.

***

Maryse, Robert and Hodge portalled into a dark alley of London. The warlock that they had hired stepped through the portal behind them. They could hear a dog barking somewhere close and people shouting in a house nearby and straight away they all knew that this was the shitty part of the big and beautiful city.

“Hand me the vile.” Maryse instructed. Hodge took the vile of Alec’s blood out and handed it to her. “Right. Come on Robert, let’s track him.” Maryse instructed. Her husband nodded and stepped towards her. They held the vile in between their hands and clasped their hands together. When a married couple tracked someone, it was almost similar to how _parabatai_ tracked. They both stared into each others eyes and waited for the location to come into their minds.

Trees.

Trees came to mind.

Lots and lots of trees.

They seemed to be looking at a forest or some sort of woods. Maryse stepped away and looked at Hodge. “He is in some forest or something.” She said, sounding confused. Robert was also wearing a confused look. “Let’s ask the London Institute where the nearest woods are.” Hodge suggested. The Lightwoods nodded and proceeded to walk to the institute.

***

Ragnor groaned awake to the sound of his phone buzzing. “Hello?” He answered.  
“Ragnor!” Tessa’s voice spilled out of the device. “I need to tell you something. It is important.” Her voice sounded urgent and slightly panicked, causing Ragnor to sit up and for his brain to wake up properly. “What’s happened?” He asked into the phone.  
“I will explain when I get there. I am going to portal in.” She replied before ending the call. Ragnor sighed and got out of bed to wake up Catarina, who was already awake when Ragnor got to the kitchen.

“Did you eat the ice cream last night?” She asked, in a form of greeting. Ragnor raised an eyebrow and shook his head. “Huh. It must have been Magnus and Alec.” She said, more to herself rather than to Ragnor.

“And if you ask me, eating ice cream in the middle of the night, _is_ pretty romantic.” Cat continued and Ragnor nodded along in agreement. “So do you think something happened in these past few days between them?” She asked, wiggling her eyebrows. Ragnor sighed. He couldn’t really focus on his friend’s love life at the moment, as he couldn’t get Tessa’s panicked voice out of his head.

“Tessa called.” Ragnor replied, instead. Cat raised an eyebrow for Ragnor to continue. “She said she has to tell us something. Something important. She sounded scared.” Cat’s face immediately changed from calm to panic and Ragnor almost felt guilty for ruining her mood. “When is she coming?” Cat asked. Ragnor looked at the clock before replying.

“She said she will be here soon and that she will portal in.” He replied.

They didn’t have to wait too long as the next thing they both knew was the sound of portal opening. They both turned to look at the kitchen wall behind them and saw Tessa stepping out of the portal. “Hey Rag. Cat.” She greeted and hugged her long time friends. “Where’s Magnus?” She asked.  
“He is still sleeping.” Cat replied. Tessa raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask about it any further. 

They all sat down in the living room and for a while nobody talked. Tessa had a sad look on her face. “They want to go to the Clave, and tell them about Alec.” She began. Cat and Ragnor exchanged confused glances. “Who?” Cat asked.  
“Isabelle and Jace Lightwood.” She replied.

Ragnor raised an eyebrow. “Why would they do that?” He asked, not expecting Tessa to know the answer. She sighed. “They want to turn their parents in. For keeping Alec locked up all these years.” She replied.

“But that’s good… right?” Cat asked hesitantly. Tessa nodded slowly, but her weary expression didn’t not change. “Perhaps. But not everyone in the Clave are lenient enough to listen… or to care for that matter.” Cat’s shoulders sagged with worry and disappointment. “So do we stop them?” Ragnor asked.  
Tessa merely shrugged her shoulders. They all grew quiet, thinking over what they could and couldn’t do. The silence was interrupted by the shrill of Tessa’s phone.

She took it out of her pocket and excused her self to take the call.

Ragnor turned to Cat, whilst Tessa talked to whoever was on the other end. “What do we do?” He asked.  
“What _can_ we do?” Cat asked instead. They both knew that they had to do something as Alec had become an important part, not just in Magnus’s life, but in Cat and Ragnor’s too. “We have to help. In any way possible.” Ragnor replied and Cat nodded in agreement.

“What!” Tessa’s voice made the pair turn to look at her in panic. Her eyes were wide with shock and fear. “Okay, I will tell them.” She continued talking into the phone before ending the call and looking at Ragnor and Cat. “That was my boyfriend, Jem. He is at the London Institute. And… he just told me that Maryse, Robert and a man called Hodge came to the institute asking where the nearest woods are.” As she spoke, Ragnor felt his blood run cold and his eyes widen. Cat seemed to be having the same reaction.

“We have to get out of here. They are getting closer to Alec.” Cat ushered out. Ragnor nodded, albeit stiffly before the pair ran up to where Magnus and Alec were asleep, to wake them up.

Ragnor and Cat barged in to the bedroom, not bothering with knocking, “Magnus! Alec!” Cat cried. Both men flinched part from what looked like a very intimate moment and in any other circumstance, Ragnor and Cat would have teased their friend but now wasn’t the time. Magnus and Alec’s eyes were wide with embarrassment and shock. Just as Magnus opened his mouth to speak, Ragnor beat him to it. “We have a problem.” He informed and saw Magnus’s expression change into worry. He turned to look at Alec, who looked equally as scared.

*** 

They all walked downstairs and saw Tessa sat on of the sofas in the living room, staring into the lit fireplace. She stood up when she saw Magnus and Alec and embraced them each in a hug.

They all sat down, and Tessa repeated what she had told Cat and Ragnor, all the while, Alec’s face drained of colour and Magnus’s blood ran cold. He gripped Alec’s hand tightly in his and Magnus could feel the other boy shaking. He wanted to comfort Alec, try to reassure him that nothing would happen to him but he knew that he couldn’t make that promise. “We need a plan.” Magnus looked around at his friends and they all nodded in agreement. They all knew they had to protect Alec, no matter what it took. 

Alec remained silent, watching everyone interact around him, forming a plan in how to protect him from his parents. 

“Why can’t we hide somewhere else?” Cat asked. Ragnor nodded in thought.  
“We could send Magnus and Alec to another hide out and Cat and I stay here.” He suggested and Magnus nodded.

“Make them think that we don’t know that they are coming.” Cat thought out loud and everyone in the room nodded along with her.  
“I can tell Jem to hold them off for as long as possible. Giving Alec and Magnus time to get out of here.” Tessa suggested, already taking her phone out and punching the keyboard. Ragnor nodded, along with Magnus and Cat.

Alec looked around at the people around him, the people he had come to call his friends and he knew what he had to do.

“No.”

Alec stood up, letting go of Magnus’s hand, who looked at him in confusion. “No.” He repeated.  
“Alec what-“ Magnus started.  
“I won’t let you guys get caught up in this any longer.” Alec interrupted.

“I hate to break it to you. But we are already caught up in this.” Ragnor replied, not unkindly. Alec nodded, acknowledging Ragnor’s words.

“Yes. But I won’t let you hide me and fight for me. All my life I’ve been hidden away. And I refuse to be hidden away any longer.” Alec replied, his voice was think with emotion and his eyes were dark blue, showing his seriousness. Ragnor nodded. “Very well.”

Magnus looked at Alec with worried eyes and then back at Ragnor. “No. Alexander, you are new at your magic. You can’t fight them yet. You’re not ready!” He stressed, looking at Alec with wide eyes. “I won’t allow it.”

Alec shook his head. “It’s not up to you. I don’t want to hide. I want to fight, even if I don’t know magic properly. I will try my best.” He replied.  
Magnus shook his head, and opened his mouth to say something, _anything_ , to get Alec to change his mind, when Ragnor spoke up. “It’s his decision to make Magnus.”  
Magnus glared at Ragnor. “ _Fine_.” He gritted out. “But if something happens to him, it’s on you!” Magnus glared at everyone in the room before walking out, slamming the door in his wake.

Alec felt his heart drop painfully inside his chest. He hadn’t meant to make Magnus angry.

Ragnor sighed and turned back to Tessa. “How long before they arrive?” Cat asked Tessa who just got off the phone with Jem.

“Two days. That’s the most Jem can stall them for.” She replied, with sorrow in her eyes. Cat and Ragnor nodded, not expecting anything more. “We have two days to prepare for their arrival.” Ragnor spoke and Alec nodded.

He had a lot of work to do in a short amount of time.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... what y’all think??? 
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	15. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec learns how to defend himself with magic.

“Why can’t we portal there!” Maryse shrieked.

“Because ma’am, we have tried. But something is blocking us.” The Shadowhunter, who had greeted them at the London Institute’s doors, replied. Maryse huffed and walked into the bedroom they had been given.

“We have to wait two days!” She said as soon as she entered the bedroom. Robert sighed in frustration.  
“Why?” He asked.  
“Because of the weather! Apparently it’s unsafe to travel due to the amount of rain that England gets.” She replied, and slumped into the chair next to the window, looking very childish. Robert hummed but didn’t bother with a reply.

***

Alec hesitantly knocked on the bedroom door, which was slightly ajar. He pushed at it until it creeked open and he could see Magnus sat on the bed, with his back to him.

“Magnus?” Alec whispered, afraid Magnus might shout again. When he didn’t get a reply, Alec moved into the room and slowly walked towards the warlock.

“Mags… I-I’m sorry.” He continued. He sat down next to the warlock and looked at him.

“I just don’t want to see you hurt.” Magnus replied in a small voice. Alec’s heart dropped and skipped a beat at the same time.

“You won’t.” He replied, with more confidence than he was feeling.  
Magnus looked away from his hands and at Alec.

“You don’t know that.” He pushed. Alec shook his head and took one of Magnus’s hands in between his own.

“Neither do you.” Alec pointed out.

Magnus sighed and looked at the other boy, who was staring right back at him. Magnus was reminded back to a few hours ago, where he was pretty sure they were going to share their first kiss. He wondered if Alec actually liked him back, and that his feelings weren’t just one sided. Then he pushed that thoughts away, because now was not the time to be thinking of something as mundane as _feelings_.

“We have a lot of work to do.” Magnus said, after a few seconds of silence. Alec nodded. He knew he had to learn the basics of fighting with magic. He had learned the basics of the everyday magic, but that wouldn’t help him fight off his parents.

“Come on.” Magnus stood and led Alec out of the room and down the stairs.  
“Magnus?” Alec called as they walked down the stairs.  
“Hmm?”  
“Tessa said that it will take Maryse and Robert two days to get here.” Alec continued, purposely avoiding calling his parents ‘mom’ and ‘dad.’  
“Why will it take two days? Why can’t they just portal here?”

“Remember the wards we put up when we first arrived?” Magnus asked and Alec nodded. “Well… those wards stop anyone who aren’t the people who put them up in the first place, from getting through… Magically. That doesn’t mean they can’t get here the mundane way.” He paused when they reached the bottom of the staircase and sighed.

“We can use that as our advantage. Two days aren’t much but it will have to do. And since you want to stay and fight, there is nothing more we can do except teach you as much as we can in this short amount of time.” Alec bit his lip and nodded. 

“But Tessa came through a portal.” Alec pointed out. “She wasn’t the one to help you put the wards up.” Magnus bit his lip to hide his smile. Alec was smart. And he liked smart. “Magic has a way of recognising familiar magic. For example, a child will recognise his or her sibling or cousin or friend. We have known Tessa for so long that our magic has grown to familiarise with each other’s. Meaning letting us through specific wards, like this one.”

Alec listened to Magnus speak. He watched as Magnus’s lips moved and how his Adam’s apple would bob every time he swallowed. He watched with amusement how Magnus would use his hands a lot when he talked, which Alec found nice to look at. _Magnus_ was nice to look at. To listen to, and to overall just simply be around. Not that Alec said any of this out loud. He shook his head, as if to shake his thoughts away and focused back into what Magnus was saying.

“You understand?” He asked.

Alec nodded.

He led Alec to the back garden where a magical dome had been created to shield them from the rain.

“Okay, there are two types of fighting magic. Defence and offence.” Magnus explained. “Which do you want to learn first?”

His eyes shined with mischievousness and amusement. Alec suspected that although Magnus didn’t agree with Alec fighting his parents, he was rather enjoying teaching him magic.

“Defence.” Alec answered.

Magnus nodded and walked closer. As he did, Alec could see himself in Magnus’s irises, which made Alec wonder if that was how Magnus saw him.

“Defence is the easy one. There is one basic spell to protect yourself. However, that basic spells splits into many smaller spells as there are different ways to protect yourself from the attacker.” Alec blinked, breaking out of his thoughts and focused hard on what Magnus was saying.

“Hold out your arm, horizontally in front of your chest.” Magnus demonstrated and Alec copied. The warlock nodded his approval, which made Alec smile.

“Okay so you’re going to move your arm up and down. Down to your abdomen and up to your neck, but when you come back up again, tilt your arm vertical, so your fist is facing upwards.” He demonstrated the movement and Alec copied, nodding when he got the hang of it.

“This is how you create your shield, when there is something like an arrow, or a ball of fire, coming at you.” Magnus paused and studied Alec, to see if Alec was actually understanding which he was.

“Now. The tricky part. Focus on your arm and will your imagination to life.” He instructed. “Think about the layers. What form they would come in. Think about how it would feel.” Alec shut his eyes and thought of all the things Magnus told him to. He started to see the shield in his mind. The hardest thing was getting the image from his head to the real life world. He scrunched his eyebrows and bit his lip. As he slowly formed the shield. When he opened his eyes, his arm was glowing, which confused Alec. At first he thought he did the spell wrong. But when looking at Magnus in question, he found the warlock staring back with a smile. “Now move your arm in the movement I showed you.” Magnus answered, Alec’s questioning gaze. When Alec did so, the glowing moved with his arm, and almost immediately, a shield, which was made out of layers of _air_?, was floating between the space Alec had just moved his hand in.

“Mags – wow!” Alec exclaimed, mesmerised by the shimmering of the glowing shield.

“Yeah!... wow.” Magnus replied in a whisper. But not for the same reasons as Alec, who was too busy looking at his sheild, to notice Magnus’s awestruck expression. The warlock was completely captivated by how Alec had created the shield. His eyes had shone pink and red, and blue. His cheeks were slightly red from the concentration. But that wasn’t what made Magnus gobsmacked.

It was Alec’s smile.

The smile, he gave out when he had done the task. When he knew he had done it right. The huge grin he gave the warlock was enough for Magnus to want to drop everything and fall into the other boy’s arms, or take him into his arms. One of each, or both. Anything to just hold him, protect him from the evil that spread across the earth. But Magnus knew he couldn’t. Not because he was scared that Alec might not feel the same way, but because he knew that Alec had the potential of becoming a strong and powerful man. Someone who took pride in being half Shadowhunter and half warlock. And deep down, Magnus couldn’t wait for that day. 

Magnus clapped and mirrored Alec’s huge grin.

“Bravo!” He cheered and Alec’s smiled deepened. “Now comes the part where you actually use the shield.” Magnus said, his smile sobering. “I’m going to throw fireballs at you. I will start with small ones and we will see your progress in order to make them bigger, Okay?”  
Alec nodded his consent and got ready for the impact of the fireballs.  
Magnus closed his eyes and when he opened them again, Alec saw his glamour had dropped and his cat eyes had come out to play. They made him look more mischievous, and  tempestuous in a beautiful way. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, and in that moment Alec saw Magnus’s soul, right before he fired his first fireball, and his soul was majestic.

Despite the momentarily distraction, Alec was quick to act and blocked off the fireball from hitting his face. He felt his breath leave him in a heavy pant but he grinned when he successfully shielded the bolt of fire. Magnus nodded and proceeded to throw fireballs at him, gradually getting bigger and bigger. All the while, Alec shielded them as if he had been doing this for years. To say Magnus was impressed was an understatement.

He was _blown away._

They stopped to eat, needing a break.

“I have to say, Alexander. You are a born natural.” Magnus complimented. Alec merely blushed and looked down at his meal.

“Well… I have a great teacher.” Alec replied shyly. This time it was Magnus’s turn to blush, which he hadn’t done in ages.

After lunch they practiced some more, where Magnus taught Alec how to defend arrows and how to fight with a sword, before they called it a day and went back inside. Alec was exhausted and Magnus was too. They found Cat and Ragnor curled up on the sofa, talking quietly. Magnus raised an eyebrow at their closeness but didn’t say anything.

He decided he didn’t want to disturb them so he quietly gestured to Alec to follow him, where he led the boy up to the roof.

***

They were planning how they were going to talk to the inquisitor in Izzy’s room. It had been a long couple of days, coming up with a plan that handled their situation discreetly. On top of that, the demon activity had increased in the past few days, making Izzy and Jace cut time on their scheming.

“If we tell Jia, we have a risk of outing Alec to the wrong people.” Izzy said.  
“But Jia is a kind woman. We have been friends with her daughter for years.” Jace replied, making Izzy nod.  
“You’re right. But how do we get to Idris?” She asked.

“We could send her a letter and tell her we need to tell her something important, and ask her to make us a portal to Idris?” Jace suggested.  
“But what if –“

“Izzy! Jace!” Max shouted as he barged into the room, breathing heavily. The two older siblings looked at Max with surprise.

“What is it?” Izzy asked, her eyes weary.

“I… have… something… to tell you.” Max panted. “About Hodge.”  
Izzy and Jace, simultaneously, raised an eyebrow.

“What about Hodge?” Jace asked.

“He is not who you think he is.”

***

The rain had stopped and night had fallen. The stars sparkled underneath the moonlight. Magnus led Alec onto the rooftop and Alec’s breath hitched in his throat at the beautiful sight of the stars in the sky.

“It’s beautiful.” He breathed out, almost as if he couldn’t help himself. Magnus merely nodded as he too was captivated by the sight of the stars.

“I’ve always loved looking at the stars. Ever since I was a child,” Magnus began. “I loved the thought of them looking down at me, guiding me. Looking out for me.”

Something in Magnus’s voice made Alec turn to look at the warlock.

“It’s stupid, I know.” He added and laughed humourlessly.  
“It’s not stupid.” Alec reached out for Magnus’s hand, where it lay on the wall. He squeezed his fingers and felt a jolt of warmth when Magnus squeezed back.

“It’s beautiful.” Alec continued. “The stars are your glimmer of hope.”

Magnus turned to look at him in surprise. He hadn’t thought of it this way but when Alec put it like that, he supposed it was true.

“Everyone should have hope. Hope makes us stronger…. Hope is the only thing stronger than fear.” Alec whispered out, as if he was sharing a secret with the universe.

“And what is your beacon of hope?” Magnus asked.  
“I… I don’t know.” Alec answered truthfully. “Living in that room, trapped, for years. I kind of lost hope.”

Magnus’s heart tugged painfully inside his chest and he wished he could turn back time and save Alec from those monsters.

“You will find it again.” Magnus answered, hoping his words were enough to convince Alec. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when I first started out this story, this was not how I planned it would go. The slow burn was not a thing I considered. But it makes sense considering Alec has been caged nearly all his life. So I feel like it fits. 
> 
> What about you guys? Is the slow burn too slow? Is it time they kissed already? *smirks* 
> 
> Leave your comments as they make my day!


	16. First kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ;)

At first Izzy and Jace merely stared at the youngest Lightwood. Izzy had her mouth open and Jace had his eyebrows furrowed. Max’s eyes were wide as he told his siblings the truth.

“It makes sense.” Izzy randomly blurted out after a few seconds of silence. Jace spun around and looked at his sister with wide eyes.

“It does?” He asked. Izzy nodded.  
“Think about it. That day we saw Hodge in the library, we heard voices.” Izzy pointed out. “And when we asked him, he said he was ‘reading out loud'. Who reads out loud like that?” Jace tilted his head to side and seemed to think it over.  
“But that still doesn’t mean he could be another man wearing a shapeshifting rune.” Jace argued.  
“I think we need proof.” Izzy replied, a haunted look settled over her face.

“That won’t be a problem.” Max spoke up. The two older Lightwoods’ had forgotten he was there up until that point.

“What do you mean?” Jace asked. Max smirked, something a ten year old child shouldn’t do without looking they are up to something. He held up a piece of paper which looked like a fire message.

“I have his fire message. I figured he would use something to communicate with his son. And I found his latest fire message. It’s addressed to someone named ‘Sebastian.’” Max read out.

”You went through his things?” Izzy asked, her eyes wide. “What if he had caught you?” Max merely shrugged in response. Izzy sighed at her brother’s antics. He always had a tendency to do risky things. 

“Show me the letter.” Jace asked and Max handed it to Jace. Both Izzy and Max saw the _exact_ moment his face drained of colour.

“Jace? What is It?” Izzy asked, worried.

Jace silently handed over the piece of paper to Izzy who took it and as she read the letter her eyes widened in horror.

“Valentine.” Izzy whispered the name of the man she had always thought was dead. “It's addressed from Valentine?” She looked back at Jace with wide eyes. “It- It can’t be.”

“Whose Valentine?” Max asked, breaking Izzy and Jace from their internal thoughts. They stared at Max for a while, not knowing what to say or how to say it.

“He... was a very bad man.” Jace answered grimly.

***

They stayed on the roof, watching the stars. Neither saying a word. Alec had his head on Magnus's shoulders. And the Warlock didn’t know if he was awake or if he had fallen asleep. “Alec?” Magnus nudged Alec gently who hummed. “We should go inside. It’s getting cold.” He murmured into Alec's hair. Who giggled away.

“That tickled.” He said, whilst chuckling and scratching his head. Magnus smiled at the sound Alec had just made.

“Its weird right.” Alec began.  
“What is?” Magnus asked, feeling confused.  
“Falling in love… Its basically trusting someone to take care of your heart whilst also giving them the power to ruin it.” Magnus’s eyebrows arose at the sudden topic change. “I read somewhere that love gives you power.” Alec continued. “But who is it giving the power to? The lover? Or the loved?”

Magnus was silent as he thought about Alec's wise words. After a beat he spoke up.

“I’m guessing you don’t believe in love?”   
“How can I believe in something if I’ve never experienced it.” Alec replied. “Never even kissed anyone.”

“Oh?” Magnus didn’t even know why he was surprised. He knew Alec had been locked away where he couldn’t go round kissing people. Once again, he felt the pure anger and rage towards the Lightwood parents.

“Yeah... I don’t even know how people do it. I mean in books they make it seems so romantic and beautiful.” Alec whispered, not looking at Magnus but at the stars.

“Well... when two people feel something is happening between them, that makes their heartbeat faster when the other walks by and makes them lose their breath. They just know.” Magnus whispered, looking into Alec’s swirling irises and seeing the stars reflecting in them. 

It was beautiful. _He is beautiful._

“Do you think someone out there will want to kiss me?” Alec hesitantly asked.  
_I do! I want to kiss you!_ Magnus's brain practically screamed at him.  
“Yes.” He replied instead.  
“But h-how? I mean I’m so plain and boring a-and-“  
“Alexander.” Magnus interrupted Alec’s blabbering. “When some one wants to kiss you, you’ll know.”

“How?”

“Well... for starters, they will slowly lean in.” Magnus paused and leaned towards Alec, slightly and slowly, who turned away from the sky and looked at Magnus.

“They will look into your eyes and not at your lips.” Magnus looked into Alec's eyes.

“No matter how much they want to. This is their way of asking for permission.” Magnus could feel his heart at his throat. _What am I doing?_ His brain screamed at him. 

“Then they will gently place their hand on your cheek. Feeling the softness.” Magnus slowly lifted his right hand and placed it on Alec’s right cheek. Feeling the gentle flesh and straight away Alec leaned into the touch, closing his eyes half way and when Magnus moved his thumb gently across his skin Alec shivered sending a jolt of butterflies through Magnus. “And as they lean forward, they will stop seconds away from touching your lips. This is the most important part. It is their way of letting you close the small gap.” Magnus leaned forward. And was seconds away from touching Alec's lips.

“And then what?” Alec whispered, his voice hoarse.  
“And then they will kiss you.” Magnus answered before Alec closed the gap and their lips made contact. Magnus brought his left hand to rest upon Alec's left cheek, as Alec wrapped his arms around Magnus's waist. The kiss was messy at first before it turned into a harmony of lips, teeth and tongue. Magnus could clearly tell that Alec was unpractised, which caused a happy jolt rush through him. As he was Alec’s first kiss.

Alec’s hands roamed around Magnus’s back, pulling at his shirt. Whilst Magnus’s hands wandered from his cheeks to his chest where he could feel Alec’s heart racing. They broke away for a second, their eyes meeting instantly before Alec dived back in again. This time their kiss was more fierce, more passionate. As their tongues swirled around each other in a dance, fighting for dominance, they both moaned and gripped the other tighter.

They only broke apart, when the need for air became too strong but neither went far. Alec rested his forehead against Magnus’s as they both panted, breathing the same air. “And that’s how you should always be kissed.” Magnus panted, making Alec grin.

*** 

“If Valentine is back then we are in bigger trouble than we thought.” Jace said. “Max said he was talking to his son. Sebastian.” His haunted look hadn’t disappeared ever since they had found out about Valentine. Neither had Izzy’s. “Urgh. I remember him. My dad used to take me to his house when we were little. He was such a creep.” Jace's parents had died when he was ten and the Lightwoods had taken him in. He shuddered at the thought of Sebastian. 

“Jace. What do we do? How is Alec mixed up in all this?” Izzy asked. She was worried about her brother and what the reappearance of Valentine had to do with Alec.

“Now we definitely have to go to Jia.” Jace replied. “This is much bigger than us, or even Alec. But we need proof first.”

Izzy nodded, trying to calm her breathing down. “We have the proof.” She waved the fire message in front of Jace.

*** 

“We need a plan.” Maryse said. “Alec is with warlocks. Powerful warlocks.” She continued, disgust laced within her words. “We can’t just march in and demand Alec to come with us.”

“I have a plan.” Hodge stepped away from the window, where he had been staring out of for the past hour. “But we will need some reinforcements.” He smirked and looked from Maryse to Robert.

“What kind of reinforcements?” Robert asked, raising an eyebrow.  
“Let’s just say, that with these reinforcements, Alec’s return is guaranteed.” Hodge replied.

“Excellent.” Maryse replied.

“Have you heard of Valentine’s son?” Hodge asked. “Sebastian?” 

Maryse nodded her head. “Yes. He is best known to be quite the tracker.”

Hodge smirked.

“I have alerted him about this whole situation and he has offered his help.” 

“What’s the catch?” Robert asked. He had also heard of Sebastian. 

“He will need Alexander. For a… game.” Hodge replied. 

“A game? What kind of game?” Robert asked.

“The self-sacrificing one.” Hodge replied. “It’s best you don’t know the details.” 

Maryse was quiet as she listened, before nodding.

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

Robert also nodded, agreeing with his wife. He was glad that Sebastian wouldn’t be asking for some kind of payment. This way, they would be getting rid of Alec and also satisfying Sebastian. 

“Perfect,” Hodge replied.

*** 

The next day, both Alec and Magnus were up early and practising magic. This time Magnus was teaching Alec the opposite to Defence magic; offence. 

He taught several ways to protect oneself and to hurt the incomes with his magic. Alec relished in practicing the said magic, as his smirk proved it. Magnus was once again surprised at Alec’s quick learning abilities. It seemed Alec’s body and magic connected with more practical magic, rather than the small spells.

By evening, Magnus felt like Alec was ready. Not ready to fight his parents. But ready enough to at least protect himself. After their training, Alec excused himself to go take a shower. Magnus walked into the living room and sat down next to Cat.

“We are going to protect him at any cost. Right?” He asked. Cat and Ragnor both nodded. “Of course.” She replied quickly. “Tessa will be here, tomorrow. And so will Malcom who will bring many more warlocks from the spiral labyrinth.” Magnus nodded at her words, trying to reassure himself that everything would be okay the next day. But there was still that horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, screaming at him to take Alec and run.

***  
Jace and Izzy had immediately requested a portal to be made to Idris. As soon as the request went through, they left the institute. They had requested a meeting with Jia, who smiled as they walked into her office.

“Jace and Isabelle Lightwood.” She greeted them both in a hug and gestured them both to take a seat.

“What can I do for you?” She asked, smiling.  
Jace and Izzy didn’t reciprocate her smile. Instead, Izzy took out all the paperwork that was proof of what their parents were up to.

“We have something to tell you.” Izzy began. Jia saw the serious look on both Izzy and Jace’s face and nodded her on.

“Our brother, Alexander Gideon Lightwood… is alive.” Izzy announced. “We have reason to believe that our parents hid him after his supposed death, because he is half warlock, half Shadowhunter. Also that our parents are working with Valentine Morgenstern.”

Jia froze. Silence being spread across the room, so much so that if a pin dropped, it would have been heard.  
Finally after a couple of silent beats, she swallowed and seemed to unfreeze.

“You have proof?” She asked. Jace and Izzy nodded and pushed the file, that contained everything in, towards her.

She nodded and reached for the file, and began to read. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i decided to cut them some slack and let them have their moment. Hehe.


	17. So easy to fool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shit is finally here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! (Even though I don’t celebrate it. I hope everyone who does is having a wonderful time!)

Mayrse, Robert and Hodge all packed up their things and walked out of the London Institute. They had borrowed a car from the Institute and were happy that they could finally be on their way. They were two days behind schedule, which frustrated Maryse.

“So Sebastian is just going to take Alexander in his hands?” Maryse asked Hodge as they sat in the car.  
Hodge confirmed Maryse’s answer with a nod.

“But why? Why does he need Alexander?” Robert asked.  
“I told you, the less you know the better.” Hodge replied and started the car. Robert opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he saw his wife’s smirk.

“And you’re sure that Alexander will be… put down?” She asked.  
“Yes.” Hodge’s eyes sparkled as he replied. “We will take him to a warehouse that isn’t far from here. Lock him up. And then… well… you don’t need to know the next part.

*** 

For a moment or two, there was just silence. Jia stared at Izzy and Jace as if she was seeing them for the first time.

“So Alexander is alive. He is half warlock and half Shadowhunter. Your parents had him locked up and tied up, not to mention experimented on. He was freed, recently, by the High Warlock of Brooklyn, Magnus Bane, and is now missing. And your parents are hunting him down with, a presumed dead serial killer, Valentine Morgenstern. Who is disguising himself as your former teacher, Hodge Starkweather.” Jia summed up. Izzy and Jace nodded along.

“Shit.” Jia cursed. Which would have sounded funny coming from the Consul, if their situation had been different. Instead, ‘shit’ was exactly how Izzy and Jace felt. If not worse.  
“As you can see. We need people we can fully trust and we need to work fast.” Izzy stressed. “They’ve already left New York and are probably in London right now, where Alec is presumed to be. We need to get there as fast as we can with back up. To protect Alec.”

“Consul, our brother does not deserve this.” Jace added.

Jia nodded her eyes worried. “I will assemble trustworthy Shadowhunters. My daughter Aline and her girlfriend. Also Helen’s brothers and sister, along with Emma Carstairs and Kit.” Jia replied and Izzy and Jace sighed in relief.  
“Thank you.” Izzy breathed out.  
Jia smiled in reply, her eyes holding kindness. “I understand. After the war, when there was talk about sending Helen and Mark away because they are half Shadowhunter, I saw the same look in Aline’s eyes. The fear of losing her friends and family. I see that fear in your eyes. And I will do everything in my power to make sure you don’t lose your brother. Just like I did to save Helen and Mark.”  
Izzy sighed another relieved sigh and sunk into Jace’s side, who wrapped his arm around his sister’s shoulders.

 _Everything would be okay,_ Jace hoped.

*** 

Jia assembled everyone in the Lightwood manor in Idris. Everyone wanted to help. Julian, Emma, Helen, Aline and Mark all remembered Alec from when they were kids. However, Ty and Livvy did not and Kit was new to the Shadowhunting world, so he didn’t know who Alec was. But nevertheless, they all agreed to help. After they all read through the file, they all began to come up with some sort of plan.

“First things first,” Jace started. “We need to go to London.”  
“How fast can a portal be made to London?” Izzy asked Jia.  
“Probably twenty minutes. I need to contact the local warlock.” She replied and set off to do her task.  
“Valentine is part of this. So is his son, Sebastian. Meaning this could get messy.” Jace warned, looking around at the people in the room. “Are you all ready to risk your lives?”

There was a chorus of “yes’s” that went around.

Jace nodded.

“All right then.” 

*** 

Although he had agreed to this plan, Robert didn’t like it. Not one bit and he was starting to regret every decision he had made that let him to this point in his life. He didn’t like the fact that they were going to send Alec to his death. No matter what he and his wife had done to Alec in the past, Alec was still his son.

His eldest son.

He sighed and looked out of the window of the moving car. Wondering if he was making the biggest mistake of his life.

*** 

They planned on meeting with Sebastian in the woods that were next to where Alec was hiding. When they arrived, they got out of the car and walked deeper into the woods where they saw soldier-like men stood behind Sebastian. They were all Shadowhunters as far as Maryse and Robert could tell, as they all had runes. But there was something in their eyes, it reminded Robert of the time when he was part of The Circle.

The Shadowhunters stood in front of him, looked human. But it was their eyes that said something different. He shared a Look with his wife, who just shrugged her shoulders and continued to follow Hodge with her head held high. Not showing a hint of any emotion. As soon as Hodge stood in front of the men, everyone had eyes on him.

“Our mission is to search for the boy. And to destroy anything that gets in our way. No harm must come to the boy. We need him alive.” Hodge bellowed.  
Maryse stood beside Hodge, nodding along to his words. Robert, however, didn’t. He knew Hodge wasn’t telling him everything. He walked up to Hodge and Maryse, when Hodge finished his speech.

“If Sebastian’s soldiers are going to find him, why do you need us for?” He asked.  
Hodge smiled. It was a smile that wasn’t like anything Robert was used to seeing from his friend. It was a new smile. An eerie smile.

“You guys get to do the fun part.” 

*** 

“Something is blocking the portal from being made directly to the place where Alec is.” Jia informed everyone. Izzy and Jace groaned in frustration.  
“Magnus’s wards.” Izzy muttered at the same time as Jace asked.  
“So what do we do?”  
“We will portal to the London Institute. Then travel the mundane way.” Jia replied.  
“But by then it may be too late.” Izzy stressed, her worries clear on her face. Jia looked sympathetically at her.

“It’s the best that can be done.” 

The Lightwood siblings sighed but nodded. They needed to get to Alec as fast as they could, and deciding how to get there was wasting precious time.

“Everyone!” Jia shouted. “Arm yourself with as much weapons as you can. Make sure you’re prepared. We have no idea what we could be walking into. It’s risky, but unfortunately we have no time on our hands.”  
Whilst everyone started to load themselves with seraph blades and other weapons, Izzy pulled Jace aside.

“Do you really think we can save him in time?” She asked.  
Jace sighed and pulled her in for a hug.

“I hope so.” 

*** 

Alec was in the back garden, practicing his magic when he heard his name being called. “Alexander!” Magnus yelled. Alec looked up at the warlock and smiled. Magnus was standing where the woods began. He waved Alec over. “You need to see this!” Magnus’s grin made butterflies erupt inside his stomach. After their kiss, he had realised his feelings towards the warlock weren’t something one would feel for a friend.

Alec giggled and ran towards Magnus. As he passed through the wards, that were all around the house, he felt his stomach turn upside down. He reached the edge of the woods but when he did, Magnus had disappeared.

“Magnus?” Alec called, feeling confused as he had _just_ seen the warlock standing in the place where he now stood.   
“Alec! Come here!” He heard Magnus’s voice again, this time deeper into the woods. Alec smiled once again and ran towards it, running deeper into the woods. His feet crunching leaves and twigs as he ran.

“Mags! Where are you?” He shouted and looked up at the trees, which towered over him. As he did so, he saw Magnus sat on one of the branches, smiling down at him.

“How did you get up there?” He asked, laughter in his voice. Magnus’s smiled grew wider and jumped down from the tree, standing in front of Alec.

“It’s a secret.” He whispered.  
Alec opened his mouth to protest, when something in Magnus’s eyes sparkled making him stop. 

“Step back. I want to show you something.” He said. Alec nodded and moved back. Magnus smiled at Alec, and closed his eyes. Alec watched as his hair changed from jet black to dyed blonde. His cat-eyes changed into brown and his beautiful features changed into a face Alec knew all too well. 

Alec’s eyes widened in horror, and in his panic at seeing the face he still sometimes saw in his nightmares, he tired to run. He took a step back but his foot caught on a root of the tree he was stood next to, making him fall. 

“Alexander.” Hodge’s smiling face looked down at Alec. “Oh you are so easy to fool.” Alec tried to move away from the man, but didn’t get far as his back hit the tree. “And so stupid. Leaving the wards, that were placed around to protect you.” Hodge continued. 

“What have you done to Magnus?” Alec rasped, making Hodge throw his head back in laughter.

“Don’t worry about your friend. He is fine inside the wards. I merely made myself look like him.”  
Alec’s heart was pounding his chest, his eyes wide with the realisation that dawned upon him when hearing Hodge’s words.

“Now. Enough chit chat. I am going to kill you now. And there’s nothing you can do about it.” He taunted and moved closer towards Alec.  
Alec was just about to push Hodge away with his newly learnt magic, when a new figure stepped from behind the trees.

“Get away from him!”  
Alec and Hodge both turned at the same time, eyes growing wide as they saw the new figure.

“Ahh, Maryse.” Hodge greeted. Alec’s eyes watered at seeing his mother, after all this time. His heart breaking at the thought of his death, at his mother’s hand.

“Get away from my son.” She growled, and took out her seraph blade.  
Alec’s heart picked up at the pronoun that Maryse used to describe him. But he didn’t have time to react, as Hodge moved away from Alec, with super human speed, and leaped at Maryse. Their blades clashing, making Alec flinch. He tried to stand up and run, but as he did something dug into his ankle, making him cry out and fall down again. He looked down at his ankle and saw a sharp piece of twig sliced into his skin. He hadn’t acknowledged the pain until now, as his fear had been too strong. It still was.

He panted and cried out again as he tried to remove the twig, blood running, freely, down his foot and onto the floor. Once again he tried to stand up, but the pain shot up his leg making it impossible for him to do so. So he settled for crawling away. He crawled, still keeping an eye on the fight, and didn’t see the spider which was now crawling onto his hands. Alec screamed and jerked away, looking at the creature with wide eyes. His scream caught the attention of Maryse and Hodge. 

Hodge sprang towards Alec and held his blade across Alec’s neck, smirking at Maryse.

“Stay back! Or I will kill him.” He threatened. Alec winced when he felt the blade cut into his skin, and his blood trickled down his neck.  
Alec tried to find his magic from within him, but his fear distracted him from concentrating. “Leave him alone. Your fight is with me.” Maryse begged. “Leave my son out of this.”  
Alec felt the blade dig deeper and more blood spill down his neck, making his vision blurry. He cried out when Hodge pulled his hair, jerking his head back.

“You have such a unique son. Maybe I will keep his head as a trophy.” Hodge smirked down at Alec.

“You will do no such thing!” Another voice bellowed. 

Hodge had no time to react as an arrow pierced into his shoulder, making him drop his blade and lose his grip on Alec’s hair. Hodge fell to the floor, next to Alec, who was gasping for air. Maryse rushed to Alec’s side, followed by Robert who was the one to speak and shoot the arrow.

“Alexander. Darling are you okay?” Maryse asked, looking down at Alec.  
“Get… away… from me.” Alec panted and shuffled away from Maryse who looked at him with wide eyes.

“Son. We need to get you healed.” Robert spoke up, also leaning down and looking at Alec.  
Alec shook his head, rapidly and tried once again to move away from the people he once called parents.

“Darling. We are so sorry. We are here to help you. We heard what Hodge was up to. He has men surrounding this whole woods. Looking for you. So we followed them.” She explained, her eyes wide with fear. Alec shook his head.  
“You are here to kill me.” He raised out, looking Maryse in the eye.  
“No. We are here to save you. We regret everything we have done to you. We want to make it better. We promise. I promise. You’re our son. Our flesh and blood.” Maryse replied. 

Alec shook his head. “Have to get to Magnus.” He panted. 

“Sweetie, your friend is dead.” She replied, her eyes filled with sorrow. “We saw the men Hodge brought with him, break through the wards your friend had set up. We saw them enter and we saw them leave, carrying the body.” 

“What? No. No. No! He is alive. No he can’t be dead. No.” Tears fell from his eyes as he pushed Maryse away. “No. I would know! He is not dead! He can’t be! I would feel it! He- he can’t be dead! He can’t be!”  
“How would you know?” Maryse raised an eyebrow, her voice suddenly sounding off.

“I don’t know. I just would.” Alec replied, crying. Maryse relaxed and nodded. 

“We can’t be here, incase more of the men come. We need to get out of here.” Robert said. 

“I need to get to Magnus. I need Magnus. I need my Magnus! He can’t be dead!” Alec babbled, trying and failing to stand up as the wound on his leg was still open and hurting. Both Maryse and Robert raised an eyebrow at Alec’s “my” but didn’t say anything. 

“You can grieve when we get to the safe house.” Robert urged just as they heard twigs being snapped. Alec nodded wearily and with the help from his parents he stood up.  
“I’m going to inject you with something. Okay.” Maryse said.  
“No! No!” He protested.  
“It will make you fall asleep. So you won’t feel the pain anymore.” Maryse replied, trying to calm Alec down. Alec shook his head. He didn’t want to fall asleep. He wanted to feel the pain. The pain of losing Magnus. Because the pain proved that he was real. What they had was real.

“No!” He cried. 

But Maryse didn’t listen to his protests. She inserted the injection into his arm, making everything go black in Alec’s vision and he went limp in Maryse’s arms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was grinning my evil grin whilst writing this. 
> 
> I really liked writing this chapter whilst imagining your reactions. 
> 
> But don’t worry! Everything will be fine... eventually! ;)
> 
> Also please look at the tags as I update them whenever I post a chapter, depending on what it is in the chapter.


	18. So stupid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus is worried.  
> Alec is badass.  
> Maryse is a bitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
> I’m sorry for all the angst lately but it has to be done. I’m sorry!!!! :( 
> 
> But it will get better... eventually. ;)

“Quick. Move him onto the van.” Maryse shouted to Sebastian who came running. Whilst Robert and Sebastian carried an unconscious Alec to the van that was parked near by. Maryse ran to Hodge and pulled the arrow out, making him grunt.

“You guys played your part well.” Hodge smirked and applied an _iratze_ on his arm, healing the wound.  
“As much as it pained me.” Maryse replied, rolling her eyes, disgust in her voice. Hodge merely laughed. They walked over to the van, where Sebastian had his men tying Alec up. Robert’s eyebrows were scrunched up as he watched, pain hitting him. He knew what they were doing was wrong. He needed to do something.

Maryse’s voice caught his attention, so he walked towards her and pulled her aside. He had been meaning to talk to her for a long while now.

“Don’t you think we are taking this too far? Alexander is our _son_. Surely that means something to you. Those words you said to him. Surely some of them were true?” Robert practically begged. Maryse stayed silent and looked at her husband for a while.  
“Don’t you ever say that Alec is my son ever again! My son died when he was a child. And this… _monster_ took his place, wearing his name and face. I suggest you drop this, before I have to do something I will regret.” Maryse growled, her eyes shining with anger. Robert’s eyes widened at his wife’s sudden behaviour change. Or perhaps it wasn’t sudden at all. Perhaps he had been so blind before to see what she was slowly becoming. He opened his mouth to reply, when Hodge stepped towards them wearing a stupid smirk on his face which fuelled Robert’s anger.

“Are there any problems?” He asked, slyly.  
“Just someone forgetting where his priorities lie.” Maryse replied, shooting a glare at Robert before walking away. Hodge stepped towards Robert until they were nose to nose.

“Robert… I have always admired your will to do the right thing.” Hodge smirked.  
“You’ve changed.” Robert realised. He had been seeing the small changes in his childhood friend for sometime now, except it didn’t click until this moment. Hodge raised an eyebrow.

“I think it’s time we all changed. Don’t you think? A new era is coming.” 

Robert’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the cryptic remark, but before he could ask what Hodge had meant, he was already moving away and walking towards the van. Robert quickly followed.

“We need a spell that blocks off Alexander’s whereabouts. So those… disgusting half breeds can’t find us.” Hodge called out. Sebastian smirked and nodded. Robert noted that Sebastian didn’t speak much, but his eyes said enough. His eyes held something menacing, something that practically screamed; ‘ _don’t mess with me._ ’ He watched Sebastian drag the warlock, who had made them the portal to London, towards Alec’s sleeping body.

“Make the spell.” Sebastian grunted.

The warlock nodded, his hands shaking and waved them over Alec. They all watched the spell be done and once it was done, the warlock moved away from Alec and slumped onto the ground.

“It’s done.” He murmured. 

Maryse and Hodge smiled. 

Sebastian smirked. 

Robert grimaced. 

*** 

Magnus walked out of the bedroom, after getting dressed, and walked down the stairs. He saw Cat and Ragnor sat together, all cuddled up. Which made Magnus smile.

“Hey, have you seen Alec?” He asked. Both Ragnor and Cat shook their heads, making Magnus shrug his shoulders and walk into the kitchen where he hoped Alec was. When he wasn’t, Magnus frowned and proceeded to look for Alec in the back garden. His heart started to beat harder, when he realised Alec wasn’t their either.  
He rushed back inside, yelling Alec’s name and hoping against hope that Alec was somewhere in the small cabin. Cat and Ragnor both sprang up, their eyes wide as they looked at Magnus.

“What is it?”Cat asked.  
“Alec! He isn’t here.” Magnus replied, his breathing heavy, eyes wide.  
“Isn’t here? No he must be. Where could he have gone?” Cat replied. Magnus opened his mouth, but shut it when an idea came to his head.

“I’m going to track him.” He waved his hands about and brought up the map that he had once done, to find Ragnor only to find something more rare. Or rather someone.  
The map always showed the area where the warlock doing the spell was. So the map showed the cabin and the woods. Magnus searched and searched the map, frowning when he couldn’t see Alec on the map, and trying again. Before he cried out in frustration.

“He’s gone! I can’t find him. Something is blocking me. They’ve take him! Maryse and her stupid Shadowhunters.” Magnus cried.   
“We will find him. Ragnor urged. “If we all put our magic together then we can – ”  
“This is all your fault.” Magnus interrupted.  
“What?” Ragnor asked, surprise written all over his face at Magnus’s sudden accusation.  
“None of this would have happened if you hadn’t put the idea to stay and fight in Alec’s head! If we had just ran away, I could’ve protected him! He would be here with me right now!” Magnus yelled, tears gathering up in his eyes.

“Magnus. Surely you don’t believe that.” Cat spoke up, her voice calm.  
“I do! It’s all his fault.” Magnus moved forward and gripped Ragnor by the collar, jerking him, anger in his eyes. Ragnor moved back, causing them both to crash into the table that was behind them.  
“Stop it!” Cat yelled. “We are wasting time!” She tried to move in between them.  
“She’s right.” Ragnor grunted, trying to get Magnus off of him, who seemed relentless in trying to punch Ragnor in the face. Which he succeeded in doing and making Ragnor grunt in pain. Cat huffed and waved her hand in front of her, and willed her magic to freeze the two men. They both froze, their eyes widened as they saw that they couldn’t move.

“Now. You two are going to stop fighting like children and we are going to find Alec the adult way.” She said, and after seeing their nods, she let them go. 

They all sat on the sofa, Cat purposely in the middle as Magnus was still throwing death stares at Ragnor.

“How do we find him?” Magnus asked. “We have no way of knowing where he went.” He sighed and rubbed his eyes, smudging his eye make up but not caring. “I can’t believe they took him from right under our noses.”  
“I think we need to do the finding spell again. This time together.” Cat replied, gently patting Magnus’s thigh.  
“I didn’t see him. But… okay.” He resigned and stood up. They formed a circle and closed their eyes. Once the map was in front of them, they could see every warlock’s aura that was near them. Once again, Alec’s was nowhere to be seen.

“It’s a unique shade of blue.” Magnus muttered, when he realised that Cat and Ragnor hadn’t seen the boy’s aura before. They both nodded and proceeded to search but all frowned when they couldn’t find it.  
“I told you.” Magnus began. “His aura isn’t h – ”  
“Look!” Cat cried out. “It might not be Alec’s but it’s a warlock’s whose nearby. Also it seems to be pulsing.”  
“Which means he is close to dying.” Magnus finished her sentence.

Cat nodded. “He is the closest warlock to us. The rest are out in the city. He probably knows what happened to Alec.” Cat’s eyes lit up as she talked. Magnus nodded along. It was a start. And hope was filling him once again. 

*** 

“What shall I do with the warlock?” One of Sebastian’s men asked.  
“Leave him here.” Hodge replied. “We don’t need him anymore.” The man nodded and smirked down at the unconscious warlock. He pulled him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him towards a tree, where he tied him up. “Don’t think about running to your warlock friends for help,” The man smirked and stood up, before stabbing the warlock in the leg. “You’ll bleed out before anyone comes to rescue you, anyway.” 

“Let’s go!” Hodge yelled to everyone, and soon they all mounted on to their vehicles and were on their way towards the warehouse. 

*** 

They reached the woods and saw the warlock who was injured almost immediately.

“There!” Cat pointed at the warlock and they all ran towards him. “He is losing a lot of blood.” She rushed out, looking at the knife plunged into his thigh. “We need to get this knife out.”  
Magnus quickly rushed to the man’s side and pulled the knife out, making him cry out in pain.

“I need to close the wound.” Cat waved her hand above his leg and slowly started to stitch the wound up, with her magic.

“Th-thank you.” The warlock muttered, once the wound was closed up and the bleeding had stopped.

“Who are you people?” He asked.  
“I’m Magnus Bane.”  
“The high warlock of Brooklyn?” The man’s eye widened and Magnus nodded.  
“Whats your name?” Cat asked.  
“Evan.”  
“Okay Evan. We need your help. Did you see Shadowhunters take a boy with black hair and pale skin?” Magnus asked, his eyes wide.

Evan nodded.  
“Yeah. They are the ones who did this to me.”  
Magnus sighed out in relief. “Can you tell us everything that happened?” He asked and Evan nodded once again.   
“Not here.” Ragnor spoke up, for the first time, since they left the cabin. “We are too exposed… Let’s go back to the cabin.”

*** 

When Alec awoke, the first thing he noticed was how cold he was. He was blind folded, which heightened his other senses. He could feel he was on a cold floor. He could smell blood and wondered if it were his own. He tried to listen out for some sort of sound but all he heard was the sound of some sort of liquid dripping somewhere close.  
He tried to move, to stand up, when he felt his hands were tied together behind his naked back and he realised he was shirtless. Alec grunted as the harsh metal dug into his wrists as he tried to pull at the restraints. The more alert he became of his surroundings, the more he started to feel his pain. His head was pounding and his legs felt like jelly. 

As soon as his brain registered his pain, the memories started to come back and he felt hot tears run down his cheeks when he remembered that Magnus, Cat and Ragnor were dead. But as he cried silently, his cloudy mind realised something. Something he had been too slow to realise before. 

Alec’s parents had lied to him. They had led him believe that they were actually sorry about what they had done to him for years. _How could I be so stupid?_ He cursed at himself. Just in that moment, before he was given time to process what he had just realised, a door in the near distance banged open, making Alec flinch. He heard footsteps getting closer to him, before they stopped right in front of him. His breath left him for a second as the blindfold was taken off of him, and he could see again. Although he was momentarily blinded by the sudden light. He looked up and saw a man with blonde hair and black eyes.

“Who are you?” Alec croaked out.  
“I’m Sebastian Morgenstern.” The man answered. Alec decided he didn’t like him. His voice held superiority and something else Alec couldn’t quite place.

“What do you want from me?”  
“I want you to help me bring back my mother… you see she has been suffering for years and I think it’s time I help her. Don’t you think?” Sebastian tilted his head and looked at Alec, as if he was studying him.

“Whose your… mother?” Alec hesitantly asked, not knowing if he wanted to know the answer. He flinched when Sebastian threw his head back and laughed, loudly.

“I guess you will have to wait and see.” Sebastian replied, cryptically, before walking away. 

*** 

“Maryse and Robert Lightwood have been using me to make them portals, ever since the disappearance of their son.” Evan started. “They kept me around because they needed me, but didn’t realise how much I heard. They plan to take Alec to a warehouse not far from here. They need Alec for something, I don’t know what. Hodge wouldn’t say. Also… they have soldiers. An army.” 

Magnus looked at Cat and Ragnor with a haunted look in his eyes. His friends were reciprocating his haunted look. No one spoke a word, no one knowing what to say. 

*** 

Robert was pacing. He had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach and watching Sebastian’s men tie up Alec had just made it worse. He walked into the main area of the warehouse and saw his wife and Hodge talking to Sebastian. They seemed deeply engrossed in their conversation so Robert decided not to disturb them. After all, after his conversation with Maryse he knew she wouldn’t want to talk to him. 

He walked over to the room where they were keeping Alec and his heart thudded painfully at the sight of Alec with his head hung low as he was still unconscious. Robert nodded to himself. It was time to make a choice. He couldn’t just stand their on the sidelines and let this all happen. No. He wouldn’t allow it. Robert watched Alec for a few more seconds, before stepping away and walking to the entrance they had entered from. 

He knew he couldn’t help Alec all by himself, but he knew people who could. 

*** 

“Father.” Sebastian called. Hodge and Sebastian were the only two people in the main area of the warehouse. “Are you sure we have the right boy?”  
Hodge, or rather Valentine, smirked. “Yes my dear boy.” He replied.  
“We should test him.” Sebastian continued and Hodge raised an eyebrow.  
“Oh?”  
“Yes. How about I send in my demon soldiers to… play with him a little?” He suggested, smirking sweetly. Hodge’s eyes twinkled as he nodded.

“But of course.” He agreed and patted Sebastian on the shoulder. “But be sure to keep him alive. We need him.” Sebastian nodded before leaving the room.  
He found the two demons that were guarding Alec’s cell doors. “How about you guys go in and have some… fun with the boy?” He said, making the demons smirk and nod.

“But Leave him alive.” Sebastian added before walking away, chuckling to himself. 

He liked the fact that he could boss the demons around. Since he was half demon and half Shadowhunter himself, due to his father’s experiments on him when his mother was still pregnant, Sebastian had the ability to control demons by making them drink his blood. He had made a deal with any demon wanting to participate; his blood would give them a human form and in return they would give Sebastian their loyalty. 

*** 

Alec frowned when he heard a voices. He opened his eyes and looked at the room, which seemed empty. His mind seemed foggy and for a while he didn’t quite register the noises, until the voices seemed to be getting closer.

“Wake up! Pretty boy.” A voice startled him, making him flinch. It was a man. He had scars on his face and arms, and although he looked human, his eyes told a different story. They were pitch black, as if looking into a black hole. The other man who was with him, wasn’t any different. They both had a menacing look. Alec grunted when one of the men kicked him in his thigh, to wake him up. They both laughed as Alec hunched over in pain.  
“Where’s your pet warlock now?” The other man taunted. Alec felt a stab of pain run through him at the thought of Magnus. But he didn’t let himself believe that Magnus was dead. He couldn’t be. When Alec stayed quiet, and kept his head low he felt a hand grab his chin and forced his head up, so he could look at the men.

“Look at me when I talk to you.” The man growled. When Alec didn’t reply, the man smirked and took out a small pocket knife. Alec’s eyes widened at the sudden shimmer that the knife caused and he felt a chill run down his spine.  
“W-what are you going to do with that?” Alec stammered, his mouth dry due to dehydration and fear. The two men merely smirked in reply, and without any warning the man holding the knife dug it into Alec’s shoulder, making the hybrid cry out. His scream echoed throughout the cell which was followed by laughter of the two men. The man dug the knife deeper into Alec’s skin, watching blood ooze out and Alec’s tears fall.

“S-stop…” Alec begged, not caring if he sounded pathetic, just wanting the pain to stop.

“Not until we’ve have our fun with you.” The second man spoke up, with a huge grin. He stepped up and took out an arrow. He teased the sharp end onto Alec’s neck, not digging in, just taunting. He moved it around his skin, from his neck and down to his chest and with each passing second Alec’s breathing harshened. The man smirked which was the only warning Alec received before the man pushed the sharp end of the arrow into Alec’s leg. Alec’s eyes blackened as he felt himself loose consciousness for a while before he blinked again. His mind was numb with pain, his throat scratchy and dried up from his screams and his cheeks were tear stained and red. But his eyes were the worst; his eyes were dark red, mixed with sparks of black. 

The arrow dug deep into Alec’s leg, covering itself with Alec’s blood, making the pain sting more harsher, more deeper. His leg was bleeding all over the floor, and soon he would be sitting in his own pile of blood.

“I wish that fag was here too.” One of the men said. “I would have loved to cut out his cat eyes.” The other man laughed and nodded in agreement. 

Alec’s insides raged with anger at the way they were talking about Magnus. His eyes blazed with flashes of blue as he channeled his anger towards his wrists, pulling at his magic to free his hands. The two men were too busy talking to notice the sudden change in Alec before it was too late and Alec pulled his hands away from the restraints. He pulled the arrow out of his leg, crying out but not letting the pain consume him, for the time being, and staggered onto his feet. The two men sprang to their feet in surprise, eyed wide, as they took steps backwards in alarm. Alec walked closer but before he could have the chance to stab the arrow into the man who had called such a disgusting word to Magnus, the other man came running towards him. But Alec didn’t let the flash of movement stop him from his task. He willed his mind to freeze the running man where he was, and almost smiled when he accomplished in doing so, before turning his attention back to the other man who now had his back against the wall.

“How dare you say that about him.” Alec growled. Anger running through him, pushing the fear out. He could still feel the pain in his shoulder and leg but the adrenaline was rushing through him in big waves, making him ignore the pain for the minute.  
Alec brought the arrow, which was covered in his own blood, up to the man’s chest and pressed it against his chest. He knew that these men were demons in human bodies as their eyes were too black to be any humans, and he knew that the arrow wouldn’t kill the demon for long because they could only die with a seraph blade. But he also knew that the arrow in his chest would slow him down, and also the pain would hurt like a bitch. So he dug the arrow deep inside his chest, pushing and pushing, watching the man crumble to the ground, in agony. 

Alec watched the man’s veins pop out and his skin darken. His eyes bulged out of their sockets as the man wheezed and screamed, clawing at his face for what? Alec didn’t know. It was in that moment, as he watched the man die, that Alec realised he had just killed him without the use of a seraph blade. But just an arrow. He felt confusion sing through him, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it for too long as the sharp pain in his shoulder reminded him that he still had to deal with the other man. Alec took out the knife from his shoulder, grunting in pain again before stabbing it into the man who was still held frozen due to Alec’s magic. Alec watched as he too, crumbled to the ground in screams of agony before his silence announced his death. 

Alec was breathing hard, his breaths coming out in harsh pants. He dropped the knife, which clattered to the ground and blinked harder as his tears were too big to see properly. As the men lay dead, the adrenaline left Alec leaving him able to feel his pain, both inside and out. His legs trembled and gave out from under him, making him go falling to the ground. He was loosing too much blood, therefore loosing the strength to keep his eyes open. He lay there, in his own pile of blood eyes weary, breaths loud, before his vision went black and he passed out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My baby Alec is learning. *proud mother* hehe


	19. From the beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry for the late update. It’s just been a hectic month recently. :)

Izzy sighed in relief when they finally arrived at the cabin where Alec was presumed to be staying. She got out of the SUV, followed by Jace and the rest of her team and walked towards the cabin, only to be pushed back. Hard enough to make her jerk backward and fall on the ground, and landing on her butt. “Izzy!” Jace shouted, running to where his sister had fallen. “You okay?” Jace asked, helping her up. “You knew Magnus had his wards up.” He scolded.  
“I thought it would let me through since me and Alec and have the same blood.” Izzy replied, embarrassment in her cheeks. Some wards did allow family members of the person inside the wards to be let through, as the wards recognised the similar blood.

“And so is Maryse and Robert.” Jace added, not unkindly. Izzy grimaced at the thought. “Yeah… the more I learn about them and what kind of people they are. The less I see them as family.” She replied. Jace nodded in agreement.  
“Okay how do we get inside?” Emma asked. Izzy was about to shrug her shoulders when she saw the front door of the cabin open and saw Magnus walk out. 

*** 

Magnus needed air. He couldn’t breathe. Not after what he had just heard from Evan. His brain (and heart) was yelling at him to stop thinking and just _do_. To go find Alec. To go find his Alexander. But he had no idea where to look. Magnus stood up from where he was sat on the sofa, staring into the fire place for quite a while now, and mumbled that he was going outside. 

He opened the door, and stepped out onto the porch where he and Alec had once sat and watched the sunrise. He could physically feel his heart hurting, Missing his best friend. His other half. 

Magnus let out a long sigh, and froze. He could see Isabelle and Jace stood where the wards finished. Izzy was waving her arms around, trying to get his attention. He couldn’t believe his eyes for a few seconds, before he snapped out of it and ran towards them. Magnus walked through the wards and up to the Shadowhunters looking at them with suspicious eyes. “Why are you here?” He asked, his voice breaking.  
“Magnus. We’ve come to protect Alec. Where is he? We need to tell him some things that change everything.” Izzy rambled. Magnus looked at her with despair in his eyes.

“They’ve taken him.” He whispered, not baring to voice his words any louder.  
“What?” Jace and Izzy both cried in unison.

“How could you have let this happen? Jace asked, or more like growled.  
“It wasn’t Magnus’s fault.” Cat said, walking up to the scene, Ragnor behind her. Izzy and Jace looked like they were ready to say something before Cat held up her hand, making them stop. “Come on. We can discuss this inside.”  
Everyone nodded and after a flick of her wrist, the wards let in the Shadowhunters in. 

*** 

“So Valentine is wearing Hodge Starkweather’s face and him and his son need Alec for something. But you don’t know what.” Ragnor repeated. Izzy and Jace nodded.  
They were all sat in the main room of the cabin, listening to Izzy and Jace retell their side of the story. “Our parents forged a death certificate to show to the Clave that Alec was dead, when his warlock mark came.” Izzy added, slowly, pain in her eyes. “And Max, our little brother, heard Valentine’s conversation with his son – ”  
“Sebastian.” Evan finished. 

Everyone’s eyes turned to look at him and Magnus almost forgot he was in the room.

“Who are you?” Izzy asked, clearly noticing Evan for the first time.  
“I’m… I’m the warlock that your parents were forcing to make portals for them.” Evan murmured. “Before they decided they didn’t need me anymore and left me to die in the woods.”  
“Did you see Alec?” Izzy asked, eagerness in her eyes.  
“Yes.”  
“How was he? Was he hurt?” Jace asked, supporting the same eagerness as his sister.  
“He was unconscious. They injected him with something that put him to sleep. I was told to wait with the rest of Sebastian’s men and watch.”  
“Watch what?” Magnus asked, his blood running cold. “Evan. Did you see why Alec walked out of the wards?” He asked slowly, dreading the answer.  
Evan nodded. “Valentine shifted and made himself look like… you.”  
Magnus stiffened, his eyes wide, throat all dried up. Silence filled the room as everyone turned to look at Magnus who was having trouble breathing. “S-so… Alexander ran into the woods because he thought he saw _me_?” Magnus breathed out. Evan nodded again.       “Yeah. After a while when Alec couldn’t find you, Valentine changed himself to look like Hodge Starkweather again and he said he was going to kill Alec.” Evan continued.

Izzy gasped.  
“But they had a plan. To fool Alec. Just as Valentine was going to pretend to kill Alec, Maryse Lightwood came and made a show of fighting Valentine off, just so Alec would believe her when she said that she was sorry and that she has changed, and then he would come willingly. But he didn’t. He was struggling, fighting off Maryse and Robert. After that… Maryse and Robert were saying somethings to Alec… I was too far to hear, before she injected him.”  
“Do you know where the warehouse is?” Magnus asked, not letting the total fear he felt for Alec consume him and distract him from finding Alec. He was angry at Alec a little bit for leaving the wards but now he understood why he did so.  
“I know the direction. But as for the actual place. I don’t.” Evan replied. Magnus nodded. “That’ll do.”

*** 

Robert had borrowed a car from one of Sebastian’s men. He wasn’t used to mundane travel but it would have to do. He drove back to the cabin and as soon as it was in sight, his heart started to beat faster. He knew that the warlocks wouldn’t let him through the wards easily, and he cursed himself for not bringing any weapons to defend himself with. He sighed and got out of the car. Robert walked up to the wards and scanned the area, searching for any familiar faces. “Warlock Bane!” He shouted, hoping his voice would be heard. “Warlock Bane!”  
He took a startled step backwards when the front door suddenly opened and out walked Magnus, anger burning in his cat eyes. Robert held his hands up in surrender. “What are you doing here?” Magnus screeched. “Come to gloat that you’ve taken Alexander?” Magnus walked through the wards and up to Robert where he waved his hand and pinned him against the nearest tree. 

Robert could see the other warlocks behind Magnus and to his surprise: Izzy and Jace and even the consul. “I… have… something to… tell you.” Robert coughed out, having trouble breathing from where Magnus’s magic was tightening around his throat.

“Now why should we listen to anything you have to say?” Magnus asked, his cat eyes glowing.  
“It’s… t-to do with Alec. I know how to… save… him.” Robert replied, his face losing colour as the blood circulation was cut off. “Magnus. Stop. You’re going to kill him!” Ragnor shouted.  
“He deserves to die! They all do!” Magnus shouted back.  
“Magnus this isn’t the way. Let’s hear what he has to say, before making any rash decisions.” Cat protested, her calm voice soothing Magnus.  
Magnus sighed and loosened his grip on Robert’s throat. “Fine.” He gritted out. “He tells us what he knows then I kill him.” Cat sighed but nodded, everyone else mimicking in agreement.  
They led Robert inside, all the while keeping a close eye on him incase he tried something, Magnus’s eyes had dropped their glamour and he didn’t plan on bringing it back up anytime soon. 

As they all sat down in the living room, there was an awkward silence. No one knowing where to begin. Robert kept staring at Izzy and Jace, his eyes wide with shock, and guilt. “You know.” He began, softly. “About having another brother.” He smiled, sadly, bending his head down in shame. Izzy and jace didn’t reciprocate that smile, as they glared holes into his head. “Isabelle. Jace… I just…” he trailed off with a sigh. “I just don’t know where to begin.”  
“How about from the beginning.” Jace grunted and Robert nodded, albeit shakily.  
“When Alec’s warlock mark came, your mother sent him to his room and came crying to me. She said that some demon had possessed our son and killed our Alec. At first I was so confused. I went to go check up on Alec and saw what she was talking about. His eyes were glowing black, almost as if… in fear?” He ended his sentence as a question. Magnus’s heart broke at the thought of little Alec all alone and and scared. “I could see what Maryse was talking about, but I didn’t see the monster, I saw a small frightened boy who needed love. I tried to understand how this was possible in the first place since half Shadowhunter and half warlock isn’t possible… but then I remembered…” he trailed off and swallowed, nervously fidgeting with his hands. 

“When your mother and I were teenagers, we were part of the terrorist group called The Circle…” A gasp interrupted Robert. He turned to look at his daughter with sorrow in his eyes. He hated the fact that his daughter was looking at him as if she didn’t know him. _She doesn’t._ Robert thought.

“We… we were on a mission, seeking out warlocks and any other downworlders to hunt. When we… stumbled upon an old warlock. She was powerful. Very powerful. Valentine forced us to go break into her house and kill any living being. We broke in and saw a child. It was a warlock child. He looked about five? Six? Maryse didn’t care about his age and killed him in cold blood.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “At the time we didn’t know what hell we had unleashed. The child’s mother, who had adopted the child at a young age, ran to her child as soon as he collapsed. She tried healing him, but the power of a seraph blade cannot be reversed.” 

Magnus’s eyes were wide and full of hatred. Everyone else mimicking his expressions. “She put a curse on us… on Maryse… who was pregnant at the time. With… A-Alec. But we didn’t know at the time. It was very early on. The warlock started muttering something and we decided to abort since the walls of the house started to shake… a few weeks later Maryse found out she was pregnant. We were over the moon.” Robert smiled at the memory. “But… little did we know. When Alec was born everything was fine. He looked like an ordinary baby. But when his warlock mark came... and Maryse came crying to me saying that her son was possessed by a demon. I tried to tell her it was the same Alec. That he had always been like this. That it was what the warlock had done after we killed her child. But Maryse wouldn’t listen. She said she would kill Alec. I reasoned with her, and got her to keep Alec alive if he were to stay locked up. That way... at least he was alive.” Robert sighed and rubbed his eyes. “We realised that the warlock wanted our first born to be something we hated the most… A warlock. But she made it much worse by keeping Alec as a Shadowhunter.” Robert finished and stunned silence greeted him. No one knew what to say, or how to react. 

“So you decided to kill him off? Make death certificates for him?” Izzy asked, after a while, her voice scary calm. Robert nodded.  
“It was the only way to make him disappear in the eyes of the Clave. I knew it was wrong but we were young and… I know that doesn’t make it okay, but we had no choice.” He replied, not meeting Izzy’s eyes.  
“You always had a choice. It’s just the matter of choosing the right one.” Izzy replied, tears brewing in her eyes.  
“Now can I kill him?” Magnus asked, his anger laced in his words.  
“You still haven’t told us how we can save Alec.” Jace spoke up, giving Magnus a glare, before turning his attention back to Robert.  
“I came to you guys because I needed your help to free Alec. I can get you inside the warehouse. But from there you guys will be on your own. I will try to cover for you guys whenever I can. And I will help you fight in the end.” He replied, warily.  
Silence was once again Robert’s reply, but to everyone’s surprise, Emma stepped forward. “We need a plan.”  
“Yes we do. But first… How will we get inside without Valentine or Sebastian noticing?” Izzy asked. Robert’s eye brows scrunched up in confusion.  
“What do you mean ‘Valentine’? It’s Hodge who is doing this. And Valentine’s son!” He argued his voice wavered and his eyes widened, realisation in his eyes even as he said the words. 

Izzy and Jace both looked at him and rolled their eyes in sync.  “Max overheard ‘Hodge’ and Sebastian’s conversation where they were talking about needing Alec. He saw ‘Hodge’ transform himself back into Valentine by using the sharp shifting rune.”  
Robert was stunned before he let out a shaky breath. “I knew he was acting different. I mean I’ve known Hodge for years and I knew he wouldn’t be doing what this Hodge is doing. I just… I never thought Valentine would be this desperate to get Alec. I mean… why? Why does he need Alec?”  
“That’s what we intend to find out.” Magnus answered. 

*** 

Sebastian was humming to himself as he walked down the long and narrow corridor which led to where they were keeping Alec. He smiled at the thought of Alec beaten up and the demons he had unleashed, upon him. He just hoped that the halfbreed would have his full strength for the next day. 

His smiled easily rolled of his mouth as he saw the state the cell was in. As he looked around, he could see the ashes of where the demons once stood. He could smell blood, but what caught his eye was the sleeping boy in the middle of the room. Alec had his arms freed from the where they were previously tied up. Sebastian growled and walked up to Alec, jerking the sleeping boy awake, by grabbing hold of his jaw, squeezing tightly. “What did you do?” He roared. Alec blinked his eyes open, and swallowed but didn’t reply. “I said... _what did you do?!”_ He shrieked again.  
He looked around again at the ashes of the demons and something shone in his eyes.”You will pay for this!” He whispered right into Alec’s ear, before smirking and walking away, leaving Alec a shivering mess.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... what do you guys think?


	20. The ceremony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reunion  
> Fighting  
> Some more fighting  
> And some more fighting  
> Ooooh and a cliffhanger... because it’s me so... why not? ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ONLY FIVE MORE CHAPTERS TO GO! 
> 
> I think I added wayyyy too much angst into this. More than I planned when I first started this. But Ohwell... ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Sebastian knocked on his father’s door, before walking in. “We need to start the ceremony. The boy is getting too powerful. We need to do this before he is able to destroy us all.” Sebastian growled, growing impatient. Valentine was shocked for a moment before he nodded. “What did he do?”  
“He killed two of my demons. I don’t know how. This is why we need to bring mother back, before the halfbreed grows to his strongest point.” Sebastian smirked and Valentine nodded, once again.  
“Very well… We shall start the ceremony tonight.”  
“But what about that _bitch_ … Maryse.” Sebastian asked. Valentine smirked.  
“She won’t be able to do anything. By the time she realises what is happening and who I am, it will be too late.

***

“Okay… Remember. Everyone stick to the plan. Okay?” Robert reminded everyone. The Shadowhunters and the warlocks nodded. This was their one chance at getting Alec back, no one planned on ruining it.

It was late, almost nightfall. It took them practically the whole day to come up with a solid proof plan, something that wouldn’t have any flaws in. And although everything was ready, Magnus still felt uneasy. He couldn’t shake the feeling off, not even Izzy’s encouraging and hopeful smiles. Magnus sighed and waited for Cat to make the portal to the warehouse. 

***

Sebastian had gotten one of his demons to draw the pentagram on the floor. The pentagram was around a pole, which is where Sebastian and Valentine planned on tying Alec up. He smirked when he saw the demon finish the work. He saw his father step into the main room of the warehouse and watched as he smiled, his eyes gleaming when he saw the pentagram. Behind him was Maryse, and from where Sebastian was standing, he could see she had a confused look on her face. This made Sebastian’s smirk grow wider.

He walked closer to his father and they both shared a look of total triumph. “It’s time.” Valentine announced, and just as he did, Sebastian gestured his demons to bring Alec into the room. Alec was unconscious, blood dripping from his body, from where the demons from earlier had scratched him. The demons dragged him into the room and tied him up on the pole.

Maryse gasped, when she saw Alec. “Hodge! What is this?” She asked, alarmed. “I thought we were just going to put the boy down, quickly… Not… Not this!” She stammered, wavering her hand in Alec’s direction. Sebastian and Valentine shared a private smile, before Valentine turned to face Maryse. P“Oh Maryse… your hatred for your son made you so naïve. Or stupid.”  
Maryse’s eyes widened, at the words. “Excuse me?”  
“Haven’t you guessed by now?” Valentine asked, tilting his head to the side, before taking his stele out of his back pocket. He waved it around the rune on his arm and slowly shifted back into his original form.

“Valentine.” Maryse gasped, her eyes wide and her hand flew to her mouth. She took a step back in alarm. “How?” She breathed out. Sebastian and Valentine both threw their heads back and laughed, wholeheartedly. “Well… whilst you were too blind in trying to hide your mistake… I was… well… I was using it for my benefit.” He replied, his dark eyes shining in the light.  
“But… I don’t understand. What are you going to do with him?” Maryse asked, fearing the answer.  
“That is the fun bit.” Sebastian answered, excitement laced in his words. “We are going to raise my mother.”  
“Your… your mother?” Maryse asked, not sure if she had heard right. Sebastian sighed but nodded.

“Lilith.” Sebastian added, before Valentine and Sebastian walked up to where Alec was hung and slit his wrists, collecting his blood in the mortal cup. Before letting his blood drip down and spread itself out around the pentagram.  
“The ceremony has begun!” Valentine announced and all the demons, who were surrounded around the pentagram, roared and cheered.

*** 

Pain. 

The pain woke him up. 

He jerked awake, only to find his wrists tied to something. They stung when he tried to pull free, making him cry out and tears run down his cheeks. He blinked his eyes open, trying to get rid of the blur that his tears were creating. He could hear chanting and a lot of laughter and noise. His breaths were coming out in loud pants, and he could feel his blood dripping down his arms and legs, soaking into his tattered clothes.

Alec tried to stay awake. He tried to fight the weariness that was empowering over him. But he was too weak. So he closed his eyes, and the world disappeared into darkness again.

*** 

Magnus’s heart was pounding inside his chest. They walked into the warehouse as quietly as they could, not wanting any unfriendly company. Robert was leading them to what seemed to be the main room. There were a lot of corridors, with doors on each side. Magnus could hear noise up ahead and hoped against hope, Alec was somewhere safe. But even his mind knew that Alec wasn’t.

Robert paused for a second, listening to any footsteps that could be coming their way. When he didn’t hear anything, they all continued to walk. He could feel like they were close to Alec. He just hoped that they would get to him before Valentine tried anything. 

*** 

Sebastian walked over to where Alec had just past out and smiled. He gently moved a strand of hair off of Alec’s forehead, and tutted in mockery. “Where’s your pet warlock now? Hmm?” He whispered.  
“Sebastian. We don’t have time for your games. I promise you, there will be time for that later.” Valentine chastised his son, playfully. Sebastian smiled, his eyes nearly all black.  
“Stop! You can’t bring Lilith to life! She will destroy everything!” Maryse pleaded, from where she was being held by demons. Valentine threw his head back and laughed, Sebastian joining him. “Father… we must keep her. She would be very entertaining for mother.” Sebastian said, and Valentine raised an eyebrow but nodded.

“Indeed.” He replied.  
Maryse’s eyes grew wide, and her mouth hung open. “You wouldn’t.” She gasped.  
Valentine smirked and tilted his head. “Wouldn’t I?” He taunted, causing Maryse to physically take a small step back and gulp. Sebastian and Valentine merely smiled in response, having seen her small movement.

*** 

The second time Alec woke up, he woke up screaming. His shirt had been ripped off his body and he could feel his chest being cut open by a small, sharp, knife. “P…please… s-stop…” Alec begged, or tried to, as he had no energy left in him. His breaths were coming out in short pants, and his heartbeat was slowing, as he was losing too much blood. “S…stop…” Alec whispered in vain, trying to free himself from the restraints, by tugging at them. 

“There is no point struggling. You will only die faster… and we need you alive till mother arrives.” He heard a voice, his brain tried to match the voice with a face. But he was too tired. Alec slowly opened his eyes, everything was blurry from his tears and the pain, but he could see who had spoken to him. 

“S-Sebastian.” He murmured. He had heard the demons talking about him when he had been locked up. Alec knew that Sebastian was the son of a man called Valentine who had once led a terrorist group called The Circle. The demons liked to gossip a lot.  
Sebastian chuckled in reply.

“Don’t worry halfbreed. It will be over soon.”  
Alec screamed in agony, as the knife continued to slice through his skin, piercing into his skin. He tried to use his magic, tried to free himself. But he was too weak. He had lost too much blood.

He could hear chanting of some sort of spell, and as he blinked hard enough, he could see Maryse who was being held back by demons. He could see Valentine pour something that looked like ashes into the mortal cup, along with his blood, then place it down on to the ground. Alec opened his mouth to whisper out some more pleas, but they were cut off by the shaking of the ground. The chanting merely grew louder, and the ground started to shake harder and harder.

*** 

They were practically outside of the doors that would lead them into the main room, when they felt it. The ground started to shake, making everyone cry out and fall. Magnus’s eyes were wide with fear as he fell. Something was happening. Something big.

“Come on! We have to hurry.” He shouted, before barging into the room. The sight that was before him, made him gasp. His heart hurt as he looked at his surroundings. At his Alec. Who was tied up, his head bent down and chest covered with cuts and his own blood. So was his arms and torn legs. His hair fell in front of his eyes, so Magnus couldn’t see the beautiful unique eyes, that he missed so much. He was so busy looking at Alec, he didn’t notice the demons that were coming towards him.

He could see Sebastian’s and Maryse’s shocked faces because of their arrival. Before Sebastian’s sadistic face morphed into a smile. “You are just in time.” He said, walking towards them. Magnus noticed that Maryse seemed to be in some trouble of her own. She was being restrained by two demons. “Come to see your beloved… _halfbreed_ die and my mother reborn!” Sebastian chuckled as he walked past Magnus.

It was in that moment, that Magnus realised that they were surrounded. Demons were all around them, forming themselves into a circle around them. “Magnus!” Izzy shouted. Magnus turned around to see her already fighting off a demon. “Go get Alec!” Magnus heard her say, before he nodded and ran in Alec’s direction. He was so close to his beloved, when a demon sprang in front of him, almost scratching him with his vicious claws. Magnus took a step back with a gasp, and brought his hand out in front of him. He summoned his magic and before the demon knew it, Magnus turned him into nothingness with his magic. He almost smiled, but he didn’t have time. He rushed towards Alec and as he got closer he saw how deep the cuts were, which almost made him cry out. He gently placed a hand on Alec’s cheeks. “Alec. Alec… sweetie. Wake up!” Magnus practically shouted, scared that the boy was already dead.

At the touch of his hand, Alec stirred and slowly opened his eyes. “M-Mag…nus? He whispered, not sure if he was seeing correctly or if this was his minds way of making his death easier. Making him see Magnus’s face for one last time. “Sshh. Don’t talk. I’m going to get you out of here. Okay? Everything will be okay.” Magnus rushed out, before he broke the restraints, which were keeping Alec’s hands and legs tied to the pole, with his magic. Alec slumped forwards, nearly falling to the ground but Magnus caught him just in time. “I’ve got you.” He whispered, before carrying the wounded Alec out of the pentagram and into a corner, away from the fighting. Luckily Sebastian was too busy fighting Jace and Valentine was too busy fighting off Jia, to notice Alec’s absence from the pole.

“I need to heal you. Okay?” Magnus told Alec, who was having trouble staying awake. “I need you to stay awake for me okay? Baby… listen to me.” Magnus grabbed Alec’s face with both hands, and watched how Alec forced his eyes to stay open. “Stay awake okay?” Magnus pushed and Alec nodded, very slowly.

Magnus waved his hand in front of his chest, stitching his skin back together. Alec screamed, his eyes wide and his chest jerking. Magnus tried to keep him still, but Alec was moving around too much. “Alec… I need you to stay still… this will hurt more if you don’t.” He panted and his heart cried out when he saw the tears slip out of Alec’s eyes. “O…okay.” Alec whispered, his voice breaking mid-word. Magnus let out a shaky sigh before continuing his work. Alec stayed true to his word and moved less. His cheeks were soaked with tears, and his hands were twisted into fists, his nails digging into his skin and creating crescent moon shapes.

Soon, Alec sighed when the pain stopped and there was the pleasant buzz of Magnus’s magic, rushing through him and stitching up all the other cuts, which didn’t hurt as much as the big one on his chest. Which was now only a scar.

They were both panting, their eyes wide and filled with tears. Alec slowly sat up and stared at Magnus in disbelief, slowly reaching out and touching his cheek. Magnus immediately leaned into Alec’s hand. “You came to get me.” Alec breathed out, completely astonished. Magnus sobbed out a laugh, half laughing and half crying in relief. “Of course I did. You stupid boy.”

They were interrupted from their reunion by the ground shaking once again. Both men quickly stood up and ran to the fighting scene. Alec felt much like himself. He could feel his magic pumping through his blood and he felt ready to fight. “Alec… I need you to get out of here… It’s too dangerous with you here and – ”  
“No!” Alec interrupted. “No. I’m not running away.”  
“But you could hurt yourself again. Alec you’re not strong enough to fight yet.” Magnus argued, tears in his eyes. Alec almost smiled. He reached for Magnus’s hands and gave the back of each one a kiss. “Magnus… I _am_ strong enough to fight. There is a reason why Sebastian and Valentine want me. Because I _am_ strong. It’s in my blood… Literally.” Alec replied, rolling his eyes as if they weren’t talking in the middle of a fight. 

“What do you mean… ‘in your blood’?” Magnus asked, confusion written on his face.  
“I will tell you when we are done.” Alec promised, before running towards a demon and waving his hand, killing it in an instant. Magnus stared for a few seconds, before he too decided to join back in the fight.

*** 

Maryse struggled out of the demons’ grip and killed them before running towards her husband. “Robert!” She shouted, gaining his attention. Robert looked at his wife for a millisecond, distracted by her voice, and didn’t see the claw coming at him until he felt the pain inside his chest, before he fell to the ground. “Robert!” Maryse screamed, and ran towards him, falling beside him, tears falling out of her eyes. “No. No. No. No. No. No.” Maryse whispered to herself over and over again. “No… Come back! Come back to me…”

Izzy heard her mother’s cries and gasped when she saw her father laid out on the floor, not breathing. Anger boiled inside her chest, making her dive her seraph blade deep into the demon’s heart and watched him disappear. She ran towards her mother and fell to the ground, her seraph blade clattering to the ground, she looked at her dad’s lifeless body, and tears started to spill from her eyes. “Daddy.” She whispered. Although Robert hadn’t been a great father to Alec, he had still been there for Izzy. He was still her dad.

Izzy stood up, giving her dad’s body a last mournful look, before turning back to the fight. She knew now wasn’t the time to grieve. Fire and rage burned in her eyes, anger singing in her blood as she roared towards Sebastian.  
Jace saw her coming towards them, and his eyes grew wide as he could see his sister was being reckless. “Izzy! No!” But Izzy wasn’t listening to her brother’s cries. Rage seemed to be blocking her ears, deafening her from any sensible thoughts.

Sebastian whipped around in the last second before Izzy’s seraph blade was going to pierce through his chest, and he moved out of the way. Causing Izzy to fall forward. Sebastian’s laugh was heard, loud and sharp. “Did you really think you could kill me?” He mocked, before yanking Izzy by her hair, making her cry out. “Stupid bitch!” He smirked and threw her on the ground again, her head hitting the cold floor in the process. She reached for her seraph blade, but couldn’t. As it had fallen quite far from when she had fell.

“Magnus has freed Alec from where he was tied up. So whatever you were planning on doing with him, won’t happen now.” Izzy yelled, expecting to see surprise and horror on Sebastian’s face. So when she saw Sebastian’s smirk, her heart fell towards the pit of their stomach.

“You really are naïve aren’t you?” Sebastian asked. Izzy stayed quiet. He raised his seraph blade and pointed it at Izzy. “It’s a shame really. You’re so beautiful. Pity that I have to kill you.” Sebastian continued. He brought the blade closer to her neck and she flinched when she felt the tip touch her skin. Izzy took a deep breath and looked around, her eyes landing on Jace who was trying to get to her, but demons kept coming at him. He had determination in his eyes. Her eyes traveled towards Alec, the brother she had barely known, and to Magnus, who were both busy fighting off the demons with their magic, both protecting each other. She almost smiled at the thought that her brother had found someone who loved him like he deserved. She saw Emma and Julian, _Parabatai_ and lovers, fighting side by side as if they were one. Along with them, she could see Ty and Kit, and Livvy, all fighting off the demons, their eyes filled with fire.

Izzy closed her eyes and in that moment, everything stilled and slowed down. She felt the tip of the blade pierce through her skin, and her blood slithered down her neck. She mentally braced herself and bid her goodbyes to her family and friends. Hoping against hope that they would honour her death by winning this war. 

She breathed in and willed her mind to be ready for the inevitable pain that was to come. But just before the blade could slice through any deeper, the ground rumbled to life once again. Making everyone fall to the ground. Everyone looked around until they saw the pentagram, the drawn out lines seemed to be glowing as the ground shook. Everyone stopped and stared, even the demons.

The ground seemed to be cracking open, right in the middle of the pentagram, where the mortal cup once stood. A whole formed itself in the ground and swallowed the cup, with Alec’s blood and the ashes. The rest of Alec’s blood that was still on the floor, spread itself out on the lines of the drawn out pentagram. The blood slithered itself to form a circle, where the hole grew bigger and bigger. Until it grew big enough to stop. 

Sebastian dropped his blade and took a step forward towards the giant hole in the ground. “Mother.” He breathed out, his eyes mesmerised by the sight. Valentine, too, stepped forward. As did the demons.

Magnus reached for Alec’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Alec’s eyes were wide with fear as they all watched something crawl out of the hole. It was covered in black ichor. The thing raised itself on its feet and held its head high, staring at everyone in the room. It was in that moment, that Alec realised what this thing was. 

A woman. 

And not just any woman. 

The queen of hell.

“Lilith.” Magnus breathed out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TUN TUN TAAAAA!!!!!


	21. Bursts of energy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus is badass.   
> Alec is badass.   
> Enough said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So A LOT of you guys have been dying for an update and I apologise for posting really late. I had my exams these past few weeks and I didn’t have time to write or post. 
> 
> But now they are finally over... for now! Yay. 
> 
> Anyways I hope you all enjoy this update. And let me know what you think.

Silence was heard.   
Silence was heard before the noise, before everything blew up.

No one knew what to say. Or do. Or _think_. Until Valentine walked toward the dark figure. She was naked under all the black ichor, her long black hair covering her nudity, her dark deep and soulless eyes shifted to Valentine. “Lilith.” He called out, a smile on his face. His arms opened out wide.

Lilith looked at him, from head to toe. Disgust passing through her face. And in that moment, everything happened so fast. Lilith moved her hand out in front of her and summoned Valentine’s seraph blade, which he had dropped, and before anyone could guess what was going to happen; Lilith pierced the blade deep into Valentine’s chest.

The look of shock and betrayal passed through Valentine, before blood started to spill out of his mouth and he staggered to the ground. His eyes stilling where they were once looking. His hand stilled where it clutched at his chest.

Alec tightened his grip on Magnus’s hand, not knowing what to do. He wasn’t the only one. Even Sebastian was shocked at his father’s sudden death, before he quickly schooled his features right. “Mother.” Sebastian called out, catching Lilith’s attention away from the dead corpse that was once his father. “My sweet boy.” Lilith spoke. She had a rich accent. Something foreign. “I’m sorry about the mess.” She gestured towards Valentine, not looking sorry at all. “He was annoying me.” She rolled her eyes, as if killing someone was the most normal thing in the world, and walked towards Sebastian; who stood a little taller. “Oh how I’ve missed you.” Lilith embraced Sebastian into a hug.

“Likewise Mother.” Sebastian replied, returning the hug. She pulled away and Alec and Magnus stiffened when her attention drifted to them, her eyes wandering around the room. She raised an eyebrow as if noticing that they weren’t alone for the first time. “Sebastian… And who are these people?” She asked, her eyes dropping down to where Magnus and Alec’s hands were interlaced, before pausing at Alec. “You.” Her eyes locked with Alec’s and Magnus felt him freeze, the hand that was currently in Magnus’s, grew rigid. 

“It is your blood that runs through me.” Lilith stared at Alec. “I can feel it.” Alec felt disgust settle in his stomach and he physically felt nauseous. He didn’t reply, his silence was a statement in itself. The only thing that was keeping him grounded was the soft caress of Magnus’s thumb on the back of his hand.

“Come to me.” She beckoned. Her dark dilated pupils pouring into Alec’s, which were swirling with all kinds of colours as his emotions were all over the place. “Now!” She shrieked, when Alec didn’t comply straight away, making everyone flinch. Alec made a move to drop Magnus’s hand and step forward, when Magnus tightened his grip onto the hybrid’s hand. Alec tried to shoot him a reassuring look with his eyes, tried to tell him that everything would be okay but Magnus didn’t seemed to be getting it as he still wouldn’t let go. “Magnus, it’s going to be fine.” Alec whispered.   
“No. Alec. I just got you back. I’m _not_ losing you again.” Magnus replied and Alec could hear the fear his voice. Alec smiled a sad smile. “You won’t.” He whispered before kissing the warlock on the forehead and nodded at Magnus in reassurance. “Trust me.” He added.

Magnus searched Alec’s eyes before he sighed and nodded. “I trust you.” He let go of his hand and took a step back. His eyes still showing the fear Magnus was feeling. Alec swallowed the lump in his throat and walked slowly towards Lilith. “Oh… that almost brought tears to my eyes.” She feigned to act sympathetic. “Oh Sebastian. Wasn’t that just so beautiful?” She asked, her hand at her chest and her lips curled up in a small smirk. Sebastian chuckled a dark laugh and nodded along to his mother’s words. “Indeed.” He agreed.

Alec stayed silent. Magnus glared at the mother and son; his cat eyes shining, menacingly. Lilith walked closer to Alec, who was trying his hardest to calm his racing heart down. “Such a beautiful boy.” She whispered, gently running her finger down Alec’s cheek. Alec closed his eyes and willed his mind not to flinch away. “I see you are different. _Unique_.” She leant forward and _sniffed_ him. “Hmmm… not quite Shadowhunter. But not quite Warlock either. You are both.” She whispered, her eyes sparkling. “You are… remarkable.” She looked at him in awe, and it awoke a dirty feeling within Alec. A feeling that made him want to run away from this woman as quickly as he could. But he didn’t. He couldn’t leave his friends and family. He couldn’t leave Magnus.

“I am going to make you mine.” She whispered and her eyes lit up. Alec’s eyes widened in horror to see her creepy smirk on those dark lips, still covered in ichor. Everyone watched, frozen as she raised both her hands and placed it on either side of Alec’s head. The hybrid struggled at first, before Alec stilled and his pupils rolled back into his head, only the whiteness of his eyes could be seen. His mouth hung open and he simply stood there, as Lilith poured into him her own will, erasing Alec’s.

Magnus had had enough. He was not going to lose Alec a second time. He ran towards them, only to be slowed down by the demons who were now suddenly back into motion. Magnus didn’t bother being fancy, simply waving his hand and killing anything that came in his way. He was not in the mood to play. He looked around and could see everyone else had gotten into action too, wiping out the demons. Izzy had her whip wrapped around a demon’s head and pulled, tearing the head off. Jace had his seraph blade injected within a demons chest, before pulling it out and turning towards another; not bothering to see the previous one disappear. Each of the Blackthorns were busy fighting along side Emma and even Kit, who had learned a lot in the short time he had learned he was a Shadowhunter.

Magnus ran towards Alec, his eyes fixed on whatever Lilith was doing to Alec, who seemed to be paralysed, where he stood. Magnus could feel his own fear trying to claw at him but he pushed it aside and focused on getting Alec to safety. However, Sebastian came in his way before he could get to his beloved. “Oh warlock. Came to save the day.” Sebastian taunted. Magnus was not in the mood to entertain Sebastian with a reply. He merely waved his hands and trapped Sebastian in between his magic. Not letting him move. The shock on Sebastian’s face was almost funny, if the situation was different; Magnus was sure he would have laughed. He tightened the grip on Sebastian squeezing him and stopping his lungs from breathing. He remembered he had done this same thing, a couple of years ago, to a warlock named Iris who had betrayed her own kind.

Sebastian gasped out, his body struggling to breathe. Magnus wanted to kill the bastard but he knew that would take time and from the looks of it, Alec didn’t have time before he was possessed by a crazy she demon. He waved his hand around and knocked Sebastian unconscious and pushed him to the side, not caring where he landed. He ran to Alec and saw that his eyes were almost black. Now, Magnus had seen Alec’s eyes black before. When Alec was scared. But this was different. There wasn’t fear in Alec’s eyes. There was some one else trying to get into him. Lilith.

Magnus channelled his anger and fear and directed it into his magic, in which he blasted the sudden strength at Lilith and making her fly into the nearest wall. Magnus didn’t have time to feel proud of himself as he ran to Alec, who had now crumpled onto the floor. “Alec. Alec! Wake up!” Magnus rushed out, feeling a déjà vu from when he had healed him previously. He placed his fingers on Alec’s pulse point on his neck and sighed in relief when he felt his heartbeat. He was still alive. “Alexander. Wake up!” Magnus yelled, his hands hovering above Alec’s body; checking for injuries. He hoped he had moved Lilith away from Alec in time, before she had succeeded from trying to possess him into being her little bitch.

So when Alec finally opened his eyes and Magnus saw that they had returned back to normal, he sobbed in relief. His heart returning somewhat back to normal. “M- gnus…” he whispered, before he closed his eyes again.   
“Alec. Dear. Open your eyes.” He urged, not wanting him to sleep. Alec blinked his eyes open and Magnus smiled at him, through his tears. “Stay awake love. Can you do that?” Magnus asked and Alec slowly nodded. Magnus waved his hand around Alec and gave him some strength so he would be able to stand up. “I’ve got you.” He whispered when Alec stumbled a bit on his way to standing up.

Around them everyone was still fighting. Lilith was beginning to recover and so was Sebastian. There seemed to be more demons coming from absolutely no where and they were close to being outnumbered. “We need to do something.” Magnus said to Alec who was already looking better from the burst of energy Magnus had given to him. Alec nodded in agreement.   
“Like what? We are going to be outnumbered soon.” He replied. His eyebrows scrunched up in worry.

Just as Magnus opened his mouth to reply, Alec’s eyes widened as he saw something behind Magnus. “Izzy! Watch out!” He yelled at his sister who was fighting off two demons at once, only a third one was behind her; surrounding her. He saw his sister falter, allowing one of the demons a chance to snatch the whip out of her hands and leaving her weaponless. The only thing she had was a small dagger stuffed into her left boot. She took it out anyway but knew it was no use to defend herself with that.

Alec saw red. He felt his rage explode within his body and escape through his hands in wide bursts of energy and pure light. Magic poured out of his hands and pierce into each demon standing in the room, and almost immediately killing them on the spot. Everyone stopped and watched in awe and shock as the demons they were fighting disappeared, leaving behind a horrible stench in their wake. Sebastian stood up from where he lay on the ground, unconscious and looked around with wide eyes. Alec’s magic had hit Lilith, leaving her unconscious once again. 

Once every demon had been annihilated, Alec sagged and would have fallen if Magnus wasn’t there to catch him. He had no energy left within him and he felt like he could sleep for weeks. Sebastian’s eyes were wide with fear and something else. He looked at his mother who lay unconscious on the floor and ran to her, before picking her up and creating a portal. It was black and didn’t look like any other portal Magnus had ever seen. He suspected Lilith had something to do with it. Before Sebastian walked through it, he looked back at Alec and Magnus and gave them a look. A look that said he would be back. The look sent shivers up Alec’s spine. Before Sebastian walked in through the dodgy portal and it closed behind him.

As soon as the portal disappeared, Alec’s eyes closed and he collapsed into Magnus’s arms. 


	22. What happened?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally some fluff!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go my lovelies! :)

“… Burning up…”

“… I’ll stay with him…”

“… What if he has burnt himself out?...”

“… She is getting stronger…”

“He needs his family.”

“He needs the person he is closer to… and frankly that’s me!”

“Get out of here…”

Alec woke to someone gently rubbing his hand. He blinked his eyes open and let out a soft groan as there was an instant pain inside his head. It was like something someone would get after they drank too much. His vision was slightly blurry, until he blinked his eyes a few times to see the ceiling of a room. His sleep-filled brain panicked slightly before he acknowledged movement on his hand. The fingers on his hand suddenly stopped moving and Magnus’s head came into Alec’s vision.

“Alexander?” He whispered. As soon as Alec saw Magnus, he let out a sigh before another wave of pain echoed through him leading him to let out another small groan before trying to sit up.

“Hey, don’t… don’t try to sit up.” Magnus protested but Alec didn’t listen and proceeded to do it anyway, making the warlock scrunch his eyebrows in worry. Once Alec had his back to the headboard; he looked around. They were back in the cabin. Alec smiled in relief as it had been days since he had been back here.

“Hey.” Alec croaked out, his throat felt like he had eaten sand. Fortunately, Magnus picked up on this and handed him a glass of water. Alec smiled gratefully and quenched his thirst, before trying to speak again.

“What…What happened?” He asked, his voice still coming out in a whisper.  
“How are you feeling?” Magnus asked instead, ignoring Alec’s question.  
“I’m fine. Just feel tired… and my head hurts. How long have I been asleep?” Alec asked, searching Magnus’s eyes.  
The warlock smiled and waved his hand in front of Alec’s forehead, his magic gently kissing his headache away. Alec smiled back in thanks.  
“Three days.” He replied, when he was done, Alec’s eyes widened.  
“Th-three days?” He repeated. Magnus nodded.  
“After you… you shot out magic and killed all the demons, your magic affected Lilith too.” Magnus explained. Alec nodded along as he remembered that part. “And after Sebastian and Lilith left, you kind of just… collapsed so we portalled everyone here at the cabin.”

“But…?” Alec prompted as he could sense there was one.  
Magnus sighed. “But… Lilith got away. And… now she is out there somewhere and we know she and Sebastian are obviously planning something.” Magnus finished, letting out a breath.

“So… what happened to me?” Alec asked, his face scrunching up in confusion. “Why was I asleep for _three_ days?”  
“I think… it’s because when you used your magic, so much. You kind of burned out? Your body needed rest to rejuvenate. At least that’s what Cat says.” Magnus answered. He moved from the chair, that was drawn up next to the bed, and sat on the bed, next to Alec’s legs.  
“So like… I’ve lost my magic?” Alec asked, his voice turning slightly panicky.  
Magnus shook his head and smiled, pushing a small strand of hair out of Alec’s eyes. “No darling. It means that it will take sometime for every thing to… switch back on.”

“Oh…” Alec whispered and looked down at Magnus’s hand, before reaching for it. Magnus smiled at the gesture, and gave it a squeeze. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I... I... Alexander… When I lost you. When you went missing… I… It was all my fault! I should have – ”

“Hey! No. You can’t blame yourself. You didn’t know this was going to happen. All that matters is that I’m back with you again and we are going to figure out a way to destroy Lilith… together. Okay?” Alec bent his head down, trying to meet Magnus’s eyes who was looking down at their hands. Magnus sighed and nodded, before leaning in and resting his forehead against Alec’s.

“I missed you… so much.” He whispered, his voice breaking slightly towards the end. Alec smiled. “I missed you too… seeing you again was the only thing that kept me from giving up.” Alec replied, breathing in Magnus’s scent for the first time in a long time.  
“Can I… Can I kiss you?” Alec asked, not knowing where they were in _that_ department. Yeah they had kissed before, but what did that kiss mean? Had it been a pity kiss? Or did it mean something? They really hadn’t had time to define what they were to each other before every thing had happened.

Magnus smiled. Alec had asked the question so hesitantly and quietly that Magnus wasn’t sure if the hybrid meant to say it at all. However, he was glad Alec did. Magnus nodded slowly, pulling Alec out of his thoughts, before whispering his consent.

“Yes.” 

Alec’s eyes lit up, before he slowly leaned in and met his lips with Magnus’s. There was no fireworks, or anything that was even close to how they described it in books. However, it _was_ magical. In its own way. It felt more like coming home. Which made sense as Magnus was quickly learning that whoever said home was merely a place to live, clearly hadn’t been in love.

As their lips enveloped in each others and as their tongues delved deeper in to their embrace, Magnus’s heart beat increased at the realisation that he was in love.

He was in _love_ with Alec.

And strangely enough, the thought didn’t scare him. In fact, a fuzzy feeling settled inside his belly and he hoped that the feeling wouldn’t ever go away.

They pulled away slightly, rubbing the tip of their noses against the other’s in little sweet eskimo kisses before pulling away. “I love you.” Magnus blurted out. He didn’t actually mean to, even though his mind and heart were practically singing it. However, once said, he didn’t feel the urge to take it back. He merely smiled and enjoyed the shock on Alec’s face, his eyes grew wide and his mouth hung open. And a blush settled across his cheeks. “Magnus… I… I – ”  
“Shh… it’s okay. You don’t have to say it back now. Okay? Say it when you’re ready. When you’re feeling it.” Magnus interrupted, seeing the trouble Alec was having in returning the words. In hindsight, it had only been a little over a few months since he had met Alec. Magnus knew that Alec was new to all this relationship stuff, as he had spent majority of his life locked away. So he knew that Alec not saying it back wasn’t something he should be worried or scared about. He just looked forward to day Alec _did_ say it.

Alec sighed and nodded slowly. “I may not be able to return th-those words. But… I do know that I really _really_ like you. And I know it might not compare to... to love but... I have like the _biggest_ crush on you.” He blurted out, making Magnus burst out in a fit of giggles, and causing Alec’s blush to deepen. Alec smiled nervously and lowered his head, to which Magnus shook his head fondly.

“My Alexander… you continue to surprise me.” He whispered, gently placing his finger under Alec’s chin and bringing his head up, so they held eye contact. Alec’s eyes were churning a light red colour, causing his eyes to sparkle in the dim light of the room. To Magnus, Alec had never looked more beautiful than he did in this moment. His hair was all messed up as he had just woken up, dark circles under his eyes because of the lack of sleep in the past few days, and cheeks flushed.

 _Beautiful._ He thought. 

Alec smiled nervously, his tongue poking out to wet his lips and Magnus couldn’t help but trace the small movement. “In good ways I hope.” Alec whispered, his eyes turning slightly mischievous. Magnus chuckled and rubbed his nose with Alec’s. “Always.” He replied, before his lips met the other boy’s in a slow and sweet kiss. It wasn’t rushed, quite the opposite actually. It was slow and held meaning that this – as in their relationship – wasn’t some one time thing. The kiss held reassurance that promised a future of happiness.

*** 

They stayed in comfortable silence for a while, they both now had their backs against the headboard and Alec now had his head tucked into Magnus’s neck and Magnus had his arm around the other boy, playing with the soft strands of hair. He could practically feel Alec melt into his arms and the thought brought a smile upon Magnus’s face.

Magnus opened his mouth to see if Alec was still awake, when a loud grumble made him shut his mouth and stifle a giggle. Alec stiffened and pulled away, blushing fiercely. He smiled sheepishly, making Magnus chuckle louder and soon Alec was laughing along with Magnus. It felt nice; to laugh. To forget about everything bad in their lives and focus on each other. Even if it was for a little while. 

When their laughter died down to the point where they both had soft smiles and a twinkle in their eyes, Alec looked down at his stomach as if it had betrayed him. Magnus found Alec’s adorable expression very amusing.

“Come on. You haven’t eaten in three days. Of course you’re hungry.” Magnus stood up and smiled when Alec blushed and ducked his head down in embarrassment. He held his hand out for the hybrid and Alec gave Magnus a wobbly smile as he accepted his hand.

Alec looked down at his clothes and saw he was in his old sweatpants and a worn out t-shirt. He sighed gently; it felt nice to be in a new pair of clothes. He had been wearing the same clothes for the past two days, when Sebastian had kept him locked up which in the end was covered in his own blood and sweat.  
Magnus watched Alec and pulled his hand, breaking Alec out of his musings. “Come on.” Magnus repeated, softly and Alec nodded whilst following the warlock out of their room.

*** 

“I think we should go check on him.” Jace was pacing in the living room, whilst Izzy sat on the sofa, watching him. 

“No Jace. Magnus kicked you out remember?” Izzy reminded him, and Jace rolled his eyes. Magnus had called him annoying and kicked everyone out because they weren’t helping Alec, hovering around his unconscious body. Jace huffed and folded his arms around his chest. He was just about to open his mouth and complain some more, when Alec and Magnus walked in. They were holding hands and although Alec looked tired, he looked happy. Jace smiled and walked over to Alec. “Hey.” He greeted, nervously. Even though Alec and Jace were technically brothers, they still seemed like strangers, so Jace didn’t really know where he stood with Alec.

Alec smiled and pulled Jace into a hug, letting go of Magnus’s hand. “Hey.” He replied. Izzy came rushing and crashed herself into Alec’s chest. Jace envied her easiness around Alec. Izzy wasn’t the type of person to let something as mundane as _lost time_ , get in the way of her and her brother. She knew she was always missing something and now that she had found Alec, she knew that Alec was that something. Alec smiled and hugged her back. “Hey… Izzy.” He whispered and Izzy pulled away to look at Alec properly. She had tears in her eyes and her hands shook as she gently placed her hand on her big brother’s cheek. “Alec. I’m so glad you’re okay.” She whispered, her voice thick with emotion. “I’m so sorry.”

Alec shook his head. He knew why his sister was apologising, but he didn’t think she was the one who should be. “No. Izzy. This isn’t yours or Jace’s fault. It was your parents.” Alec replied, firmly. If anyone noticed Alec saying ‘your’ and not ‘our’, no one commented on it.

Izzy sighed, sadly, and nodded. 

She pulled him into another hug before Magnus gently tapped her on the shoulder. “Alec needs to eat.” He said and Izzy nodded and pulled away. Alec smiled at Magnus and took the plate of food from him, before moving to sit on the sofa and began to eat.

He was in the middle of eating his pasta, when Alec stopped and looked up at Magnus. “What happened to Maryse?” He asked. Magnus sat next to Alec, before replying.

“Jia arrested her. She will be questioned by the soul sword tomorrow. As for the others, Julian and his family, returned back home to the L.A. institute.”

Alec nodded and swallowed. “What about… Robert?” He asked slowly. Magnus opened his mouth to reply but Izzy came and sat on the other side of Alec. “He was killed by Lilith’s demons. But Alec… he really tried to redeem himself. He helped us find you.” Izzy explained the whole story about how Robert came to find Alec was both a warlock and a Shadowhunter and how he helped them in finding Alec. All the while, Alec stayed quiet and listened.

When Izzy was done, she looked at him nervously, not knowing how Alec was going to react. She frowned when Alec stayed silent. “Alec?” She hesitantly whispered.  
“Hmm?” Alec replied, looking down at his, now, empty plate of food.  
“You okay?” She asked, her eyebrow scrunched up in worry.  
“Yeah… why wouldn’t I be?” Alec answered, moving his head to lean against Magnus’s shoulder. Magnus immediately moved so Alec was more comfortable, moving the raven haired boy’s head so it now lay on his chest. “Are you sure?” Izzy asked, slowly. Alec nodded.  
“Yeah. I don’t forgive Robert for staying silent for all these years but I appreciate what he did to save me.” Alec muttered. Izzy and Magnus both nodded. No one expected Alec to forgive and forget what his parents did to him, so his answer made sense.

“Okay.” Izzy replied and smiled at her brother, who returned it.

In that moment, Ragnor and Cat walked in. They were each holding at least five books in their arms. “Alec. It’s good to see you’re awake and healthy.” Cat said as soon as she walked into the living room. Alec smiled and nodded in thanks. Even Ragnor smiled and was happy to see Alec alive and well. “Cat can you check if everything is okay with Alexander?” Magnus asked, moving out of his seat so Cat could sit next to the hybrid, but not before placing a soft kiss on Alec’s forehead. Everyone in the room noticed the kiss and Izzy and Jace shared a private smile.

Cat waved her hands around Alec’s head, before placing it gently on either side. “Alec. You are still healing. Which means not using any magic for a while until everything is back on. When Lilith tried to get inside your mind, your will was pushing her out. That took a lot of energy and power, which is why your body has burned out. On top of that, the amount of magic you used to kill all those demons didn’t help your magic.” Cat smiled and moved away when she was done. “But you are fine. Everything is fine. Just rest okay?” Alec nodded and smiled back.

Cat stood up and walked over to the desk where Ragnor was busy looking inside one of the books. Magnus immediately came and sat next to Alec, who cuddled up next to him and the sigh of comfort, he let out, was heard by everyone in the room. Izzy and Jace both smiled and looked fondly at their brother, whilst Magnus just kissed Alec on the forehead again. “Mags…?” Alec called out, in a whisper.

“Hmm?” Magnus answered, his lips resting on Alec’s forehead.  
“I’m tired.” Alec mumbled, his eyes closing. Magnus smiled and shared a look of amusement with Izzy. “Go to sleep, my love.” Magnus whispered, not that Alec heard as he was already snoring away.

“Okay. So how do we find Lilith?” Jace asked, moving to stand by the fireplace.

*** 

**Three days earlier. (When Sebastian portalled away with Lilith)**

Sebastian fell through the portal and into a river, whilst holding onto an unconscious Lilith. He cursed out loud as he staggered out of the river, all drenched and freezing cold. He knew when he opened the portal that it wasn’t strong enough to land in an appropriate place, as the colour had been different from regular portals. And although it had helped them escape the previous scene, Sebastian knew that it would have been very easy for them to get lost in limbo, had he not concentrated, hard, on their destination.

His mother was still unconscious which made Sebastian slightly worry. He hadn’t known that the Lightwood boy would be _this_ powerful. Who knows what else he could do.

Sebastian carried Lilith, bridal style, towards the cabin he could now see and sighed in relief when he found the door to be unlocked. The cabin had been Valentine’s, and it was their place where they planned to come back to, once they succeeded with the mission to bring his mother back.

The cabin was very small, it only had one bedroom, bathroom, and a main room with a small kitchen attached. Sebastian quickly laid his mother onto the bed, in the bedroom, before he went to go change his clothes. He hoped his mother wouldn’t take too long in waking up.

*** 

It was a day later, when Lilith did wake up. During the wait, Sebastian contacted their most loyal disciples and told them of the situation and what kind of arms they would need. They were more than eager to agree.

Lilith woke up and slowly walked out of the bedroom to find Sebastian looking into the fireplace, which was lit up with gentle, dancing, flames. “What happened?” She asked, her memory felt odd.

Sebastian turned to look at her, before replying. “He is stronger than we anticipated.”  
Lilith raised an eyebrow.

“Then we will need more reinforcements.” She replied, already feeling like herself. Sebastian smiled. It was twisted and mischievous.

“All done.” He replied.

Lilith returned the smile. “I always knew you would be better than your father. My brave boy.” She walked closer and gently caressed his cheek. Sebastian smiled, his teeth on show.

”If I cannot move heaven, then I will raise hell.” Sebastian recited. 

Lilith’s eyes shone with excitement. “That’s my boy.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only TWO more days until Shadowhunters returns!! 
> 
> (Three for international watchers... aka me ) :( 
> 
> But AAGHH IM SO EXCITED!!!!


	23. The plan

Jia took a deep breath and stood up, facing all the Shadowhunters, from different institutes, who had gathered up in the accords hall.

“Good evening everyone. I assume you have all heard the rumours about what happened recently and who was involved.” She spoke, her voice calm and loud. There were murmurs and nods in reply.

“I am here to tell you that those rumours are true.” She continued. In reply, the gasps and the murmurs grew louder.

“However, I am also here to tell you that we must all stick together and form a plan to destroy Lilith and her son, before it’s too late.”

“How do we know that the _halfbreed_ isn’t working with them?” Some one spoke out. Jia rolled her eyes at the arrogance of the man. 

“Alexander Lightwood is on our side. He has been mistreated enough by his parents and doesn’t need your prejudice and backwards opinions right now. He was the one who killed all the demons and saved us all. Without him, I wouldn’t be standing here today.” The man who had spoken, took a step back in shame.

“We will stand with you.” The leader of the London Institute spoke up. 

“So will we.” 

“Us too.”

Jia smiled and nodded at the chorus of agreement that went round.

“Very well. Let’s begin.” She declared.

*** 

Magnus smiled as he watched his half – nephilim sleep and chuckled when Alec snored, ever so quietly. It was the day after Alec had woken up. Magnus was so glad that Alec was okay.

Right now, he looked so innocent, so sweet, as his eyes moved around, under his eyelids, which indicated that Alec was dreaming. Magnus secretly hoped that the hybrid was dreaming about him, then chuckled at his own thought. Alec’s overgrown hair was falling in front of the his, closed, eyes. So Magnus gently pushed it away, trying not to wake him up. However, Alec did wake up.

It was slow and gradual. His eyes slowly fluttered at first before they blinked open, to reveal sky blue orbs. Magnus saw how his pupils expanded, as his eyes focused on Magnus, which was the most beautiful thing Magnus had ever seen. Alec’s tongue dashed out and wet his lips, before disappearing back in and Magnus couldn’t help but track the movement. He shifted closer to Magnus, still half asleep, and smiled up at the warlock.

“How long have you been watching me sleep?” Alec asked, his voice slightly ruff from the sleep, and Magnus had to fist up his hands to stop himself from having his way with the boy.

“Not that long?” He meant for it to come out as an answer, and instead it came out as a question, making Alec giggle.

“That’s creepy you know?” Alec teased and Magnus glared at him, feigning to be annoyed.

“No it’s not. It’s romantic.” He replied, feeling defensive.

Alec raised an eyebrow.

“Uh huh. Suuuree.” He whispered and dragged out the word, before moving forward to rub his nose with Magnus’s. That seemed to be their thing, it seemed, and Alec liked it. But Magnus moved away, lying on his back. Alec glared at him, making the warlock smirk.

“You called me creepy.” He sulked, and closed his eyes, making a smile appear on Alec’s lips. Alec’s eyes churned from sky blue to a light pink, as his mood turned playful. He was going to reply with how Magnus was being a big baby, when an idea came to his head.

He smirked and quietly moved, so now he was straddling Magnus. The warlock opened one eye and raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment. Alec leaned forward, until their forehead’s touched and Magnus felt Alec’s breath on his lips, and his own breath hitched at the close proximity. Magnus forgot all about why he was pretending to be mad at Alec and all he could focus on was how Alec’s eyes had changed colour. He was now starting to understand what the different colours meant, and he now knew that a light pink meant… Alec was in a playful mood.

Magnus swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and almost moaned out loud at how beautiful Alec looked in the moment.

“Alexander.” He whispered, so quietly that Alec wouldn’t have heard it, if he wasn’t so close. “The things you do to me.” Magnus’s own warlock mark glimmered, and his hands flew around Alec’s hips. His fingertips found the hem of Alec’s shirt and this time Alec’s breath hitched, when Magnus found his way to a small patch of skin on his lower back.

His fingers were cool against Alec’s warm skin, making Alec gasp. Magnus was wearing his ring that had a big ‘M’ written on it, intensifying the small touch.

Alec moved away from Magnus’s forehead and took Magnus’s hand and brought it to his lips, giving the back of the hand a small kiss. Magnus smiled at the gesture and simply watched Alec, mesmerised. Alec studied the ring, before silently asking Magnus if he could take it off. Magnus nodded, ever so slightly, to which Alec took the ring off and wore it on his own finger.

He waved his hand about, and wiggled his eyebrows, making Magnus snort with laughter at the hybrid’s silliness. Alec smiled at the sound of Magnus’s laughter and leaned down, until they were millimetres apart. He searched Magnus’s eyes for consent, waiting for Magnus to give him permission. And when Magnus slightly nodded his head, Alec didn’t need telling twice. He dived in with a bruising kiss, pushing Magnus deeper into the mattress. Magnus moaned as Alec’s tongue lapped at Magnus’s lips, begging him to open up. And when Magnus did, he was immediately hit with a sweet and intoxicating taste, that was all… _Alec_.

He sighed through his nose, and moved his hands up to Alec’s hair, where he pulled at the strands. Alec pulled back slightly, the two still breathing the same air, and looked into Magnus’s eyes.

“You’re so beautiful.” He whispered, before leaning down and kissing Magnus senseless, not giving him time to reply.   
Magnus was just getting into it, when Alec pulled away again, with a gasp and sat on Magnus’s belly.

“Wait, Wait. This means we are boyfriends… right?” Alec asked, hesitantly. “I – I mean… we haven’t… um… defined… what we are… and I – I was just… erm wondering.” Alec stammered out, fiddling with his hands. The confidence from before had disappeared and now Magnus could see how young Alec really was. He watched Alec’s orbs mix into a light yellow and he could practically hear Alec’s nerves as he patiently waited for Magnus’s answer.

Alec felt his anxiety and insecurities slowly prod at him as he waited for Magnus’s reply.

Magnus’s eyes grew fond and amused as he stared at the boy. “Alec.” He called out, making the boy focus back on him. “I told you I love you. You are literally sat on top of me, after we had a _very_ heavy make out session and you’re asking me if we are boyfriends?” Magnus couldn’t believe how innocent and adorable Alec was. 

“Erm… yes?” Alec answered slowly.

Magnus chuckled and sat up, making Alec slide into his lap. He rubbed his nose with the hybrid’s.

“Of course we’re boyfriends, silly.” He whispered and Alec let out a sigh of relief.

“Okay good.” He replied, his eyes gleamed with happiness, returning back to a light pink, making Magnus chuckle.

“Now that that is out of the way… where were we?” Magnus teased and leaned forward, until his lips were centimetres away from Alec’s. Alec smiled and he too leaned forward.

“I don’t know.” Alec replied, feigning to forget.

Their lips were just about to meet, when there was a knock on the bedroom door.

“Are you two awake?” Jace’s voice resonated through the door making Alec and Magnus let out a groan of annoyance.

Alec rested his forehead against Magnus’s, and whispered, “do you think if we don’t reply, he will think we are asleep and leave us alone?”  
Magnus giggled, in reply. “Let’s try it.”

“I know you’re awake. I can hear your murmurs.” Jace shouted from the door.   
Alec rolled his eyes and got off Magnus’s lap.

“Well… there goes that plan.” He walked over to the door and opened it.

“Yes, we are awake.” He said to Jace, frustration laced in his words. Jace was surprised to see the door suddenly open.

“Good… Come down and eat breakfast, we have a lot of work to do.” Jace said, before he walked away.

“Wow you’re scary when you want to be.” Magnus spoke from the bed. Alec turned back to him and gave him a cheeky grin.

“Well… He interrupted our time together.” Alec replied, before he walked into the attached bathroom. And if Magnus swooned over the word _our_ , no one needed to know.

*** 

They joined everyone in the cabin kitchen. Alec was wearing his old jeans and a overgrown hoodie, which he was pretty sure was Magnus’s. Magnus didn’t mind though, quiet the opposite actually. He loved seeing Alec in his clothes, it made him smile as he thought about it. Magnus, on the other hand, wore black skinny jeans, that hugged his legs perfectly, and a maroon button up. The shirt had studs on either side of the collar. Around his neck, there was three different necklaces dangling down, all different sizes.

They sat down and began eating, Alec was starving.

“So any news?” Magnus asked, as he watched Alec eat, before turning to look at the others.

“Jia sent a fire message. She has every Shadowhunter on the look out for Lilith and Sebastian.” Spoke Jace. Magnus nodded, before turning to Ragnor and Cat. 

“We need to alert every Downworlder too. This is bigger than us. Who knows what they are planning. We need as much help as we can get.” Cat and Ragnor nodded. 

“Agreed.” They both replied in unison.

***

Once Lilith was strong enough to portal travel and to summon her magic, she made a portal to travel to where their accomplice was at. The portal was much more stronger, now that she was feeling better, so they didn’t have to worry about getting lost in limbo.

She walked through, Sebastian on her tail, and smiled when she arrived in the other realm. “Are you sure we can trust her? She is allies with the Clave.” Sebastian interjected, before Lilith could take another step forward. Lilith turned around and smiled at her son.

“She is a woman who always picks the winning side. And we are the winning side, my boy.” Lilith replied before walking further into the forest. The seelie realm was mystical and strange, not to mention dangerous. They walked for what felt like hours, which could have only been minutes, as time worked differently here. Until finally, they spotted the queen’s castle. Lilith smiled.

“Agh. Here we are.” She muttered.

*** 

They all portalled to Idris, and walked into the accords hall. Alec was a nervous wreck, he hadn’t ever been here, among all these Shadowhunters who knew of him but he didn’t know them.

It was overwhelming.

Magnus reached for Alec’s hands and rubbed small circles on the back of his hand with his thumb. When Alec looked over at him, he gave Alec a small smile of reassurance. Alec sighed through his nose and nodded, feeling somewhat calm as he had Magnus with him.

They took their seats, towards the front of the room, and Alec watched how the room filled with all kinds of Shadowhunters from across the world. He was fascinated to see the difference in their clothing and their appearances. It suddenly made him want to travel around the world. Perhaps he could, once this was all over.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Jia, who had stood on the podium and cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice.” She thanked, her voice loud and powerful. Today it wasn’t just Shadowhunters that were sat in the accords hall, there were the Warlocks and the Werewolves and even the Vampires too. No one questioned why the seelies weren’t there. Alec wondered why, but didn’t comment out loud.

“Lilith is the mother of all demons and we have reasons to believe that she is planning something horrible with her son, Sebastian.” Jia continued.

Whispers erupted around the accords hall, and Alec tightened his grip on Magnus’s hand. “Silence.” Jia roared and instantly the silence was deafening. “I have appointed Jace Lightwood to inform us with the plan.” She said, and Alec watched Jace walk up to the stage and looked directly at Alec.

“Okay… here is what we are going to do.”

*** 

Alec took a deep breath as he strapped his thigh hostler, getting ready for their mission. He was in the Lightwood Manor, which felt wrong to Alec. Izzy had told him that all the families had their own properties in Idris. Alec felt like he was an outsider inside someone else’s home. It made sense, it’s not like Alec had grown up here. This wasn’t his home. He sighed again and looked through the big, ceiling to floor, windows. He could see the garden. It was huge, and beautiful. He thought about what it would have felt like to come here every Christmas and play hide and seek in the garden with his siblings, he wondered what it would be like to have a family dinner with everyone laughing as they ate, and genuinely enjoying each other’s company. He wondered what it would have been like to have a normal childhood. 

He was pulled out of his musings by the soft touch of a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and gave Magnus a small smile.

“Hey.” He whispered, his voice slightly ruff. Magnus’s eyes filled with concern and he moved his hand into Alec’s hair, ruffling up the strands.

“Hey. You okay?” He asked, keeping his voice low. Alec nodded, before he shook his head. Magnus smiled sympathetically and in understanding.

“I’m scared.” Alec whispered, and his eyes searched Magnus’s for any sign of disgust or amusement. But all Magnus’s eyes held was comfort and sympathy.

“Me too.” Magnus replied, he rested his hand on Alec’s cheeks and felt a sudden burst of happiness when Alec leaned in, closing his eyes. “I’m scared that I’m going to lose you.” Magnus continued. “But I promise, that I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”

Alec opened his eyes and gazed at Magnus. His eyes were slightly dazed, before he blinked and came back into focus.

“Magnus… I don’t need you to protect me. I need you to… to protect yourself.” Alec stammered, trying to get his point across to the other man. Magnus smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners, making Alec realise how in love he was with this man. Which made him wonder if this was the right time to confess his love.

“And I will.” Magnus replied. “But that doesn’t mean that I will stop protecting you, though.” He added, and leaned forward to gently give the hybrid sweet Eskimo kisses, never failing to make Alec giggle with the small gesture.

They were brought out of their little bubble by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Both men turned to look at the intruder and sighed with annoyance to see it was Jace.

“You sure do have a habit, don’t you Jack.” Magnus grumbled, making Alec snigger. Jace gave them a confused look.

“Erm… it’s Jace. Actually.” Jace corrected. 

“What ever, Jason.” Magnus waved his hand in a dismissing manner. “What is it?” He asked. 

Jace rolled his eyes and decided to not correct his name again. “We are ready to go.” He replied, and suddenly Magnus and Alec were back to serious. They both nodded before following Jace into the front garden, where everyone were ready and waiting.

“Lilith has been spotted at the old abandoned church, in Brooklyn.” Jace informed everyone. “Everyone knows the plan.” He handed everyone an earpiece, as he walked by. “These are for communication. So asking for help is easy... Okay. Team one surround the area.” He called out the orders. Every team consisted of eight people, and each team had two of each kind of supernatural being. One of the warlocks, within team one, opened up a portal and they all walked through. “Team two – ”

“We are going to be okay.” Magnus whispered into Alec’s ear, as Jace gave out his orders. Alec turned to look at him and nodded.

“I hope so.” Alec muttered, giving Magnus’s hand a squeeze. “We still have to go out on our first date.” He then blurted out and smiled when Magnus’s eyes widened in realisation. After everything they had been through, and were currently going through, going on a date seemed like such a mundane thing to do. It brought a smile upon Magnus’s lips, and he nodded.

“Well then, pretty boy, you better stay alive. Because you owe me a date.” He replied, eyes wide with excitement. 

“Why do _I_ owe _you_ a date. Why not the other way round?” Alec teased, raising an eyebrow. 

“Because you’re the one who brought it up.” Magnus answered, not missing a beat. Alec nodded, smirking at his boyfriend. 

“Fair enough,” he muttered, before Jace called upon their team and the time for teasing was over.

Their team had Izzy and Alec, Magnus and Cat, Raphael and another vampire called Ruth, and Maia and Luke. Magnus opened up the portal and pulled Alec through, the rest following behind. Because of the fact that Alec was who Lilith had a connection, if that, with. Jace had decided to use Alec as bait. Everyone who knew and cared for Alec had protested at first. Jace himself wasn’t too keen on the idea and regretted suggesting it as soon as he did. But it was Alec, himself, in the end who changed everyone’s mind.

The portal took them right outside the church’s entrance. It was old and looked minutes away from falling apart. It was such a cliché place for Lilith to set up camp, Alec thought, which almost brought a smile upon his lips.

“You ready?” Magnus asked. 

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Alec replied, before Magnus blasted the door open with his magic.

*** 

Lilith smiled as her demons formed a formation around her, protectively. She could sense Sebastian lurking in the shadows of the abandoned church, with the army of seelie knights that the seelie queen had provided. She knew that her plan to be purposely seen in this place would get the Shadowhunters attention. Which meant that they would come looking for her. She shook her head in amusement.

Her demons were all ready to go, waiting for the enemy’s arrival, and so was she.

*** 

It was dark, when they walked inside. There was a smell so vile, that it made everyone gag. It smelt like corpses and dried up blood, which made a cold shiver run down Alec’s spine. In the short time that they had last seen Lilith and Sebastian, Alec didn’t know what the pair had been up to. He didn’t really want to think about it either.

As they walked further into the church, Alec felt like they were being watched. His eyes searched the place, body full on alert. He had his bow with him and only planned to use his magic once he ran out of arrows, since he was still new at the whole magic thing. Magnus had his hands out, already blue swirls dancing around his skin. His cat eyes were out too, making him look fierce and powerful and _hot_. Alec bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from getting distracted.

They decided to split into to twos, and each pair walked down one of the many corridors. They were long and seemed never ending.

Magnus and Alec were about half way in when they heard footsteps, behind them. They both turned just in time to see a demon running towards them, his eyes seemed to glow. Alec didn’t even think twice, before shooting an arrow into the demons’s head, right between his eyes. Magnus almost whistled, but the entrance of three more demons stopped him, much to his disappointment. They killed each demon that came their way, all the while, they kept moving through the corridor.

Until they got to a door.

Both men shared a look, before Alec pushed open the door. Alec’s eyes widened when he saw that they were back where they started. He looked at Magnus, who was mirroring his expression.

“But… how?” Alec whispered. They stepped into the room they had just came from, and looked around. Eyes wide, and minds puzzled. Before they could ponder aloud what had just happened, another door opened and Izzy and Maia walked in. They too wore the same expressions as they looked at the room.

“What the hell?” Maia asked aloud, eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“Are you guys okay?” Magnus asked.

Izzy and Maia nodded. “Yeah, there were demons but we managed to kill them.” Izzy replied. 

“Yeah we had demons in that corridor too.” Alec told his sister and Maia. “Four, to be precise.” He added. 

“Us too… We had four too.” Maia exclaimed. They all looked at each other’s faces, trying to figure out what was going on. Soon, Luke and Ruth had joined them. Telling them the same thing.

“Where are Cat and Raphael?” Magnus wondered out loud. 

“We’re okay. We found a room, we’re about to go in.” Cat’s voice spoke in his ear. He had forgotten that he was wearing an ear piece and almost flinched when Cat spoke. “Which door did you go in?” Alec asked, already looking around. 

“The one on the far left.” Raphael answered.

They all walked towards it and saw that it looked different than the others. The door looked older. 

Bingo. Magnus thought. 

They slowly walked through it, keeping close and eyes everywhere.

“You guys okay so far?” Jace’s voice came through their ear piece.

Alec nodded, before remembering that Jace couldn’t see him. “Yeah.” He said, before everyone fell silent again. 

Before they knew it, there was another door and when Magnus pushed it open, this time they were standing inside a big room. Immediately, Magnus’s eyes found Cat and Raphael, who had their gazes fixed on something that was out of Magnus’s line of sight. The group moved further into the room and followed Cat and Raphael’s gaze. Magnus gasped his eyes widened, feeling nausea settle in his stomach. And from the looks on everyone’s faces, he wasn’t the only one feeling this way.

There were a row of three beds, all lined up against the wall. But it wasn’t the beds, itself, that made them all stiffen. It was the things that were on the beds.

On top of each bed lay, a body. The bodies were tied up by their ankles and wrists, against the bed. And each body was cut up, blood dripping every where.

Alec took a step back from the insidious sight, as the way they were tied up, reminded Alec of his own experience. He opened his mouth to tell the group to get out of this room and to go find Lilith, but before he could do so, a loud and painful noise shrieked it’s way into everyone’s ears. It was very high pitched, almost like a scream, making everyone trying to block it out. They screamed in agony as the pain in their ears started to become too much, and Alec did the only thing he could. He took out his ear piece and threw it on the floor, before stepping on it. The sound and the pain immediately stopped for Alec, but not for the others as they still had their ear pieces in.

“Magnus!” Alec shouted, trying to gain his boyfriend’s attention, who had his head bent low, screaming for the pain to stop.

“Magnus!” Alec yelled again but Magnus couldn’t hear him on top of his own excruciating pain. Alec gave up trying to get Magnus’s attention and took out his ear piece, before stepping on it and letting out a satisfied hum, when he heard it crack. Magnus immediately stood up straight and looked at Alec with wide eyes.

“How… What…?” The warlock stammered. Alec didn’t reply, and instead pulled out everyone else’s ear pieces and stamping on them. Once Magnus realised what Alec was doing, he started to help and before everyone knew it, the loud sound was gone.

“It was the earpieces.” Alec explained. “I’m guessing Lilith doesn’t want us to stay in contact.” 

“That bitch,” Maia cursed. 

Alec almost smiled, before he remembered where they were.

“Okay we need to get out of this room and go find Lilith.” He stated. Everyone nodded, and followed Alec out of the room.

“Everyone stay close, we can’t split up. Now that we don’t have any form of communication.” Alec ordered.

They were now stood in the long corridor, which stretched for miles. Alec sighed internally, before walking forward. He noticed that there were scratch marks on the walls. They were deep and big. It made Alec frown with worry.

“Hey… Magnus look at –”

“Guys where’s Maia?” Izzy’s panicked voice interrupted Alec from voicing his concerns about the scratches. Alec whipped around, Magnus following suit, and gasped when he saw that Maia was no longer with them.

“Maia?” Izzy shouted, hoping that she wasn’t far. When no reply came, her blood ran cold. The corridor was long and narrow, there were only two ways to go. The way they were going and the way that they came.

“Where could she have gone?” Luke asked, his eyes wide.  
“I don’t understand. She was right with us… Two seconds ago.” Izzy stammered, her eyes showing her fear. Alec gulped, before he looked at Magnus.

“Let’s go back the way we came.” Alec suggested. “Maybe she had gone back to that room.” Alec offered.

“Without telling us?” Luke asked, and Alec shrugged. They all turned around and walked into the room where the dead bodies lay. They all stopped mid step when they entered.

“What…?” Magnus muttered in disbelief. 

Before, there had been three beds with dead bodies upon them and now… there were five beds. And the body’s gone. Alec walked closer and looked at the beds. He froze when he saw his name carved into the wood of the headboard.

“What the hell?” Magnus announced, what Alec was feeling. Alec looked away from his name and at Magnus and saw that Magnus’s name had also being carved in. He stood up and saw everyone’s confused and slightly frightened expressions. “Okay, what ever is going on here… we need to go and tell Jace everything. We need him to send the other teams.” Izzy stated. 

“We can’t leave Maia.” Ruth argued. 

“Yeah let’s find her first, before we go and tell Jace.” Luke added. Everyone nodded and walked out of the room.

*** 

Magnus felt like he had been walking for hours, when it had just been five minutes. He looked at Alec and saw his worried look. He reached and intertwined their hands, as a form of support. Alec squeezed his hand, before letting go. 

Alec walked ahead of everybody, his whole body on alert. He wondered how it would feel when all this was over. He almost smiled at the thought of having some peace.

Magnus sighed and he could see everyone was clearly exhausted and creeped out by what they saw in that room. He was just about to speak up, when he heard a loud chuckle, resonating through out the long corridor. He stopped, his eyes wide, and looked around.

However, he wasn’t the only one who heard it. Izzy’s eyes met Magnus’s as they tried to have a silent conversation. Cat positioned her hands in front of her, her hands already producing magic. Luke, Ruth and Raphael all stood on guard, their eyes darting around to see any signs of movement.

After a few seconds of silence, the chuckle was heard again. Only this time it was louder, and it sounded nearer. They all turned their heads to look behind them as the chuckle had sounded from that direction. But when they looked, there was no one there. Magnus felt his blood run cold. He turned around to ask if Alec was okay, but his heart dropped at where his boyfriend was supposed to be. 

“Alec!” He screamed, fear climbing out of his throat. “Guys where’s Alec?” His eyes were frantic as he looked at the others, who also had their eyes wide with fear.

“It’s Lilith. She is definitely messing with us.” Izzy replied, her voice wavering. Everyone nodded. “But… But… where could Alec have gone?” Magnus asked, feeling lost. Not knowing where Alec was, if he was okay, made Magnus feel so helpless.

“We have to find him. Before that bitch decides to hurt him!” Magnus was yelling now, tears forming in his eyes. 

He had made a promise to protect Alec, and he couldn’t even keep that.

Cat stepped in front of Magnus and gripped him by his shoulders, tightly.

“Magnus. Listen to me.” She whispered, staring into Magnus’s eyes. “We will find him.” She said, firmly. “You hear me? Alec needs us to be strong, right now. He needs you to be strong right now.” Magnus stared back, before he nodded and cleared his throat.

“You’re right.” He replied. “Alexander needs me.”

Cat nodded. “Come on… she must be keeping Alec and Maia in the same room.”

*** 

Alec groaned as he tried to sit up. He blinked his eyes open and looked around his surroundings. It was dark and cold. He was on the floor, which seemed wet and Alec was too scared to figure out what it was that was causing the wetness. He tried to stand but realised he couldn’t, when he felt shackles around his arms, holding him down. He cried out when they bit into his skin because of the movement.

He didn’t understand how he had gotten here. He was with everyone two seconds ago, he was with Magnus two seconds ago, then everything went black and he couldn’t remember anything after that. Alec squinted his eyes and could make out a lump on the floor, a little further away from him. He squinted his eyes, trying to make out what it was.

Alec shifted as close as he could to the lump, before he realised it was a person. His heartbeat sped up at first, as he thought it was a dead body. But when the person moved ever so slightly, Alec let out a sigh of relief. The person groaned but Alec still couldn’t see who it was.

He nudged the person’s legs with his foot, trying to wake up the person. As the person moved, Alec could see the body shape of a woman. The woman groaned again and sat up, looking around, before her eyes landed on Alec.

“Alec?” She whispered.

Alec’s eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, as that voice sounded familiar.

“Maia?” He whispered, not being able to see her face. 

Maia sighed in relief, “Yes it’s me… Alec. Where are we?” She asked and looked around. It was said that werewolves could see in the dark, which would explain how she could see Alec.

“I don’t know. It’s too dark to tell.” Alec replied.

She looked around, and saw the bars on one side of the room.

“We’re in a cell.” She whispered, scared that someone would hear her. 

“Do you remember how we got here?” Alec asked. 

“No… I remember walking in those corridors with everyone, and them everything went dark, like… I was hit with drowsiness and I can’t remember anything after that.” She replied. 

“Yeah that happened to me too.” Alec whispered. 

He flicked his fingers, and his hands lit up with magic and sighed when he saw Maia’s face because of the light radiating from his magic. He brought his hands to his shackles and willed his magic to break himself out.

Alec let out a cry of relief when the shackles cracked open and he was now free. He walked over to where Maia lay and broke her out of her constraints. She smiled at him in thanks before standing up.

“What do we do now?” Maia asked. 

Alec lit up the room again with his magic and walked up to the bars that were locking them inside. He looked down the corridor outside of the cell and saw that it, too, was pitch black.

“How do we know which way is the right way?” Alec asked. 

“Split up?” Maia suggested, but Alec shook his head. 

“We’ve already been separated from the rest. We can’t afford to be separated from each other.” 

Maia nodded, agreeing. Alec held up his hand and waved it about, his eyes churning with different colours as he performed his magic. He willed his magic to unlock the door and smirked when the door swung open, dramatically. He mentally thanked Magnus for teaching him how to control and use his magic.

Maia raised an eyebrow at his work and smirked.

“Impressive.” She praised and Alec shrugged his shoulders, nonchalantly, making Maia roll her eyes.

They walked out of the cell and considered which way to go.

“Well…?” Maia asked, looking to her left then to her right. Both ways looked equally as dangerous, and mysterious. Alec sighed and thought of which way to go, whilst nervously playing with the ring on his finger. 

Suddenly, as if being hit with an idea, he froze. Alec slowly looked down at his finger where the ring was carefully slotted in. His eyes widened as the plan formed in his head. He looked up at Maia and grinned.

“What?” She asked.

Alec took off the ring and waved it about to show Maia.

“This is Magnus’s ring.” Alec started. 

“Yeah… so?” Maia asked, clearly not getting it. 

Alec rolled his eyes, before replying. “I can track him. Which will show us which way Magnus is.” Alec explained and smiled wider when he saw Maia now understood.

“That’s great.” She exclaimed and Alec nodded. 

“Okay you keep look out, in case someone comes.” Alec instructed and Maia nodded.

He gently embraced the ring with both of his hands and closed his eyes,   
Picturing Magnus. He smiled at the image of Magnus from the morning. All sleep filled and happy. And felt happiness radiate through him when Magnus had let Alec try on his ring. He couldn’t wait to have more moments like that with his boyfriend.

Alec hadn’t had a chance to give back the ring, due to Jace’s interruption and in that moment Alec had never been so glad for Jace and his inconvient entrances. 

It didn’t take long for Alec’s magic to track Magnus, and found the connection, between both of their magic. Alec wasn’t surprised to find out that his magic had easily recognised Magnus’s, and vice Versa. After all, they had been spending weeks together and practising magic together, giving time for their magic to recognise the others.

He smiled and his eyes shot open when he could feel Magnus’s source of magic.

“My magic can feel his magic.” Alec told Maia. “He is this way.” Alec pointed to his right and Maia nodded, letting out a breath of relief.

“Okay, lets go.” Maia said, and Alec nodded. He conjured himself a flashlight and then the pair began to walk. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the very late update. I was actually having some trouble writing out this chapter and whatever I was writing didn’t seem right. 
> 
> This chapter is actually part one, and obviously part two will be the next chapter. I had to split it, because I felt like it was getting too long. And also because I planned to have 25 chapters in total. So this way, it makes sense. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!! 
> 
> For the next two chapters, please be patient with me as school is very hectic right now and I have my finals coming up so I need to revise my arse off. I will post when I can but it may not be soon. But I promise I will not abandon this or anything. 
> 
> Also... for those of you who read and enjoyed “Devils in the backseat” I’m sorry that I disappointed you by deleting it. I felt like I couldn’t finish it properly and give it the satisfactory ending that it deserved. However, that being said I might post it again and change a few things so I am able to give it a satisfactory ending that it deserves. But I don’t know when this will be, so again please be patient with me. 
> 
> I love all you’re responses and I feel really blessed that you all like my work. So thank you!!!


	24. The ring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I’m back!!!

The long corridor seemed never ending. Alec and Maia had been walking for nearly half an hour and they were both very tired. The glowing ring in Alec’s hand was the only thing that kept him from falling onto the ground and giving up.

He needed to get to Magnus.

The corridor was dark and it smelled of something rotten. There were creepy crawlers every where, along with rats and other kinds of disgusting vermin, that Alec didn’t want to spend time thinking about. He cringed at the different kinds of creatures crawling on the walls.

It had only been a couple of days since his magic had burned out. Hence why he had decided to bring his bow and quiver to this mission, as Alec didn’t know if his magic was fully back to use for large amounts of time. He had been worried that small spells would also help drain his magic, until Magnus had reassured him that that wasn’t the case, hence why he didn’t feel anxious using his magic to track Magnus, now.

“So…” Maia began. “You and Magnus, huh?” She wiggled her eyebrows and smirked up at Alec.   
Alec ducked his head as a blush settled over his cheeks and the tip of his nose. He cleared his throat before nodding.

“Y-yeah… I… he and I – ”

“Hey you don’t have to explain. I was just teasing.” Maia interrupted when she saw how awkward Alec got. 

Alec smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.

“You know, all my life I had thought something was wrong with me. I mean…my parents made it very clear that there _was_ in-fact something wrong with me.” Alec rolled his eyes. “But after meeting Magnus… he saw something in me that no one had cared to look for before… Not even me.” He bit his lip and gently rubbed a finger on the ring he was holding. “He walked into my heart as if he always belonged there.” Alec admitted, and smiled at Maia, who grinned back.

“What about you?” Alec asked. “Do you have someone?” 

Maia bit her lip and nodded. “Yeah… my boyfriend Jordan… He’s actually – ”

Alec didn’t get to hear the rest of the sentence as a loud screeching sound was heard. He swirled his torch around, until it shone at the demon running their way. Alec reached for his arrows and lined one up in his bow, before aiming at the demon. He didn’t let himself think, before he let the string go and watched as the arrow pierced through the demons chest. He let a satisfactory hum and mentally patted himself on the back. However, his moment of satisfaction was short lived as the demon who was supposed to be dead, started to move.

Alec and Maia exchanged worried glances, before looking back at the demon. The demon had risen to his feet and bared his teeth at Maia and Alec. Before Alec could grab another arrow, he watched in horror as the demon paused and started to shudder, started to make a disgusting shrieking sound, making a replica of himself.

Now there stood two demons growling at them as they walked closer.

“What the hell?” Alec heard Maia shout, but Alec didn’t have time to give her a reply. One of the demons ran its way towards the Alec, but he moved away just in time to take out an arrow and stab it into the demon’s heart.   
But the arrow didn’t affect it; in fact it did the total opposite of kill. The demon shuddered again and made another copy of itself.

“Fuck,” Alec muttered as he backed up at the sight of three demons coming their way. “My arrows are not killing them!” Alec yelled, over the growling. 

“You think?” Maia yelled back and Alec rolled his eyes.

Alec mustered up enough energy to throw a fireball at one of the demons chest, hoping that his magic would kill them. But it was no use. The magic seemed to go right through the demon, but thankfully the demon didn’t split in to two, this time. Alec cursed again and forced his brain to calm down enough to think of a way out of this mess. 

“Alec!” Maia shouted, her panicked voice ringing through Alec’s ears. Alec ran towards her, so they could stand side by side but in doing so, one of the demons came too close and scratched him on the back of his shoulder. Alec cried out in pain and fell to his knees. He could feel the scratch was deep and long which made the pain intensify.

“Alec!” Maia yelled and Alec could see the change in her voice as she could no longer keep her inner wolf at bay.

Her bones cracked and her clothes ripped as she transformed into her werewolf self. She growled at the demons to back off, but it wasn’t any use as they didn’t seem bothered. Maia growled before she ran towards the closest one and bit it’s legs off, making it fall. It wasn’t going to kill it but it would slow it down. She then did the same to the other too, before running back to Alec, who was still on the floor. She gently nudged her nose upon Alec’s head, trying to tell him she was there for him.

Alec grunted and smiled, which looked more like a grimace, before he reached for his stele. However, his stele was nowhere to be seen, which left him confused. Alec slowly sat up and looked around in confusion, before he sighed and decided to heal himself with his magic.

As he did so, he didn’t realise that the blood from his wound had dripped down onto his arrows, which he had been wearing across his back, and covering the heads of each arrow with his blood. 

Alec sighed in relief when he felt the pain disappear, but he didn’t have too long to celebrate as the demons were now nearly amongst him.

“What do we do?” Alec yelled at Maia, who just howled back. Alec slowly stood up and thought about running in the other direction. But then quickly changed his mind. It wasn’t the way Magnus was. As he wondered a way out of this, he didn’t see one of the demons crawl up to him until it was too late and Alec did the only thing he could do. He grabbed his arrow and stabbed the demon into the chest. It was instinct, even though he knew that it wouldn’t do anything. He backed up and waited for another demon to be made, which would only made their problems worse.

However, as Alec and Maia prepared themselves for another demon, they were shocked when the demon who had just been stabbed, disintegrated to thin air. Alec looked at Maia in shock and confusion. But he didn’t dwell on it for long as the other two demons were close, so Alec grabbed another two arrows and threw them into each chest and watched as they too disintegrated.

Alec let out a long sigh and felt his bones relax a little, before he watched Maia turn back into her human form. “What. The. Hell. Was. That?” She punctuated words with small gaps and Alec could only shrug. “You first use your arrows and they only make more. You use your magic and it goes right through them. Then… you use your arrows again and they suddenly work?” Maia asked. “Maybe it was because you magicked them first? Made them able to be killed with an arrow.” 

Alec shook his head. “No, I only threw my fireball at one of them. So that wouldn’t explain why the other two also died too.” Alec rubbed his forehead as he could feel a headache coming along, before he gestured Maia to start walking again. He took out Magnus’s ring, which he had quickly shoved into his pocket for safe keeping when the demons came, he gently stroked the outer layer, calming himself down. It was still glowing, which made Alec smile, for some reason. It told him that wherever Magnus was, he was alive.

***   
Jace was pacing outside of the old looking church, murmuring to himself and cursing his stupidity. It had been over an hour since he had sent in Alec and his team and half way through he had lost contact with them, which only made Jace’s worry worse. He had sent in his sister, his brother, so carelessly. Jace let out a sigh and watched as the group of warlocks try to magic open the main entrance, which had been magically shut ever since Alec and his team stepped through. For all he knew Alec could be dead, along with the others. If only he had planned better, protected his brother better, this wouldn’t have happened. If only he’d –

“Jace. It’s going to be fine.” Simon’s voice pulled Jace out of his thoughts. Jace turned to look at the other boy and raised his eyebrows.

“How do you know?” Jace asked, and hated how vulnerable he sounded. But Simon didn’t seem to notice, or if he did he hid it well.

He smiled and patted Jace on his shoulder. “I have hope.” He replied, his answer so simple, and yet the most complicated all at the same time. Jace nodded in thanks and perhaps a little in understanding because although he had never been a believer in hope, or destiny, he chose to believe Simon in that moment.

*** 

They all paused and took a moment to look at their surroundings. They had found themselves in a room, filled with luxurious furniture, and a soft glow of light coming from the huge floor to ceiling windows. The room was beautiful, but it held an eerie vibe, which sent chills down Magnus’s back. 

_Who lived here?_

_What was this room?_

Thoughts and questions filled his mind as he tried to process the room and it’s content.

“Does anyone else get a strange vibe?” Izzy whispered. Her voice was strained, and wobbly. Magnus wanted to reach out and comfort her but he was struggling, himself, to keep his mind in check and not focus on the whereabouts of Alec, too much.

“Yeah.” Cat replied, her eyes wide and alert.

“Everyone stay close.” Luke ordered. They all wandered deeper into the room looking closely at the furniture and the art work on the walls. Magnus raised an impressed eyebrow when he found an old art piece, that his younger self used to admire. Which made him think: all the things in this room were things from a different era, everything was practically vintage.

Which made his eyes widen. “Shit!” He whispered, catching Izzy and Ruth’s attention. 

“What?” Ruth asked. 

“Guys… I think… we found Lilith’s lair.” Magnus answered, slowly. His irises moving around rapidly, in panic. He was met with silence, before Cat spoke. 

“Of course.” She blurted out. “All of the furniture? The art work? This shit is old. And who would have centuries old worth of stuff?”

“Exactly!” Magnus agreed, turning around and looking at the art. It was of a women holding a baby. The painting was deep in the sense that it held a lot of meaning, but also in the sense that it seemed to be inviting Magnus in. The warlock felt himself being pulled closer to the painting, having this sudden urge to reach out and touch. However, there was this niggling feeling in the back of his mind, telling him to stop.

“Hey… guys? Do you feel yourself drawn to this painting too?” Magnus asked, giving the painting one last look before turning around.

Only to stop in his tracks as he saw the sight in front of him. They were surrounded. Every member of his team each had two demons holding them down, as they struggled. Magnus felt confusion and dread fill him.

When had they come? 

He stepped forward, his arms raised and ready to blast the demons out of existence, but stopped when he heard the sound of heels clicking as someone walked.

It was a women.

She came into the room wearing a smirk, followed by a blonde man.

Lilith. 

And Sebastian.

Magnus stopped in his tracks and his heart sped up. His eyes wondered briefly to Cat, who shook her head as discreetly as she could. Magnus knew what she meant. They couldn’t react yet, they had to know what Lilith planned.

“It’s amazing isn’t it?” Lilith spoke. Her voice was majestic, calm, and something that most men would be drawn to, Magnus supposed. She walked toward the painting that Magnus had been admiring and raised a hand.

“So simple and yet it screams a hundred different messages.” She continued. 

Magnus stayed quiet.

His eyes wondered from Lilith to the Sebastian, and back to Lilith. Wondering what they planned.

“I see you’re confused, Magnus Bane.” Lilith noted, smiling. Magnus felt a shiver run down his back as she said his name.

“You know who I am?” Magnus asked, raising an eyebrow. He didn’t remember him giving his name the last time he has seen her. 

The woman smiled. “I know who all of you are.” She replied, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “And I have known your whereabouts ever since you so foolishly entered my home.” 

She tilted her head and studied Magnus, making the skin at the back of the warlock’s neck prickle. “I even know the location of the hybrid. And the wolf.” She smirked and watched how Magnus stiffened. He stepped towards her, but stopped when he heard the demons’ growls. “I swear if you have hurt them in any way, I will end you.” Magnus snarled, his cat eyes sparkling and magic buzzing through his veins.

Lilith chuckled, and Sebastian joined in. “Oh… love. So sweet. So pathetic.” She said, through her laughs. Magnus bristled at her words and in that moment all he wanted to do was magic away that smile away from her lips.

“Where are they?” Magnus asked, through gritted teeth.

Lilith stopped laughing and looked at Magnus. “Don’t worry. They will find us when the time is right.” Magnus found her answer infuriating, desperate to know where Alec was. He fired up his magic and raise his hand, ready to throw a fireball at Lilith and get everyone out of here.

“I wouldn’t go that if I were you.” She tutted. Magnus knew she was right. She had the advantage, but Magnus hated feeling helpless. Before he could reply, Lilith gestured something at the demons and Magnus watched as the demons tightened their grips on his friend’s throats.   
“It’s nearly time.” She said and smiled as if her plan was falling right into place.

It probably was. Magnus thought, bitterly, before he too was grabbed by a couple of demons.

***   
Alec and Maia sighed in relief when they saw light up ahead. They had successfully reached the end of the long corridor without any more run ins with demons. The ring was glowing more and more brighter with every step, which soothed Alec as it meant it was one step closer to Magnus. They slowly found their way into a room, with refined furniture. It looked old and sent goosebumps around Alec’s body. He shared a look with Maia, before stepping into the room. The ring was practically going crazy, once he stepped in, the ring told him that Magnus was in this room for sure. He looked around and had to bite his tongue to stop himself from calling out.

Maia looked around, using her heightened senses to sniff out any familiar scents. But she shook her head in frustration when she came up empty. Alec walked deeper into the room and froze when he saw three figure on the balcony of said room. The figures had their backs to Alec, but Alec could recognise Magnus from anywhere. “Magnus!” He yelled, making the three figures turn around. Magnus smiled in relief and rushed towards Alec.   
“Alec!” He cried as he hugged the hybrid. Alec flinched by the sudden smell that filled his nostrils as he hugged Magnus. But he decided not to dwell on it for too long as he smiled at the sight of Magnus.

“You’re okay?” Alec asked, checking Magnus for any signs of discomfort or hurt. Magnus nodded his head and smiled.

“I’m fine.” He replied.

Alec looked around and his eyes found Lilith’s, before wondering over to Sebastian. “Where are the rest of my team?” Alec asked, Maia coming to stand at his side. Lilith didn’t reply and instead looked at Magnus. 

Magnus smiled. “They are free.” He replied. Alec raised an eyebrow. 

“What? How?” He asked. There was no way that Lilith just let them go, just like that. “What did you do?” Alec asked, narrowing his eyes at Magnus. 

“I… I… offered our lives. In exchange for their freedom.” Magnus muttered. “But this way we will be together!” He rushed out as Alec’s eyes widened.

“Magnus.” Alec let out his name in disbelief. 

“She was going to kill Izzy!” Magnus added, his eyes wide, trying to explain and show how sorry he was. Alec’s mouth ran dry as he imagined the impossible decision Magnus had had to make.

“She wanted just you. But I offered myself. She said she will not take me alone… Alec… I’m sorry.”

Alec nodded. It was the right thing to do. His family would be safe. That was all that Alec wanted.

“Okay.” He agreed. At least he wasn’t going alone. 

“Alec no!” Maia yelled. “We will find another way.” She pleaded. Alec shook his head.

“There is no way, Maia. You go. Get out of this building and tell Izzy and Jace that I love them and that I will miss them.”

“No. Alec. I can’t. I won’t.” Maia argued. Refusing to move. 

“Maia. Please. They will hurt you. You need to go. I will be fine. I have Magnus.” Alec urged, his eyes filled with sorrow. 

Maia looked from Alec to Magnus and sighed, before nodding, albeit reluctantly. “Fine.” She replied, through gritted teeth.

Lilith smiled at Sebastian who grinned back. “Open the portal mother.” He spoke. Lilith nodded and waved her hand about, opening up a portal. 

“Where are we going?” Alec asked. 

“To hell child.” Lilith replied. Alec nodded and gulped, mentally preparing himself for what was waiting for him.

“We’re in this together. Right?” Alec asked Magnus and for brief second, Alec saw something in Magnus’s eyes that he had never seen directed at him. It brought a horrible feeling in Alec’s belly.

“Right.” Magnus finally replied.

They stepped towards the portal, and Alec was mere seconds away from stepping through –

“Alec! Wait!” Maia’s shrill voice halted Alec in his tracks and he turned to look at her. “The ring!” She yelled. Alec’s eyebrows furrowed as at first he didn’t understand what she meant, before he realised he was still holding Magnus’s ring in his hand.

It was still glowing.

Which made Alec stop in his movements.

Wait a minute. 

He looked back up to Magnus, who was looking at him with a impatient look. “You’re not my Magnus.” Alec whispered. “You’re not my Magnus.” He repeated louder and watched how imposter’s face changed.

“What? Of course I am.” The imposter replied, reaching out for Alec’s hand but Alec stepped away.

“No. You’re not.” Alec replied. “See this ring?” He held the ring up. “It’s still glowing. This is Magnus’s ring and I used it to track him. It is still glowing.” He repeated for emphasis. “It’s supposed to stop glowing when the person has been found… Who are you?” Alec asked.   
The imposter smirked and transformed himself back into his natural self; a demon.

“Well… I have to say you are a clever boy.” Lilith applauded.

“You didn’t release my family did you?” Alec asked and watched how the smile grew on Lilith’s face. “Where are they?” He thundered. His anger boiling up inside of him. Magic flared in his hands, making sparks fly and his eyes changing colour rapidly.   
Lilith waved a hand, almost as if she was bored and the glamour lifted showing all his friends. Showing Magnus. The real Magnus. Alec sighed in relief when he saw that they were all unharmed.

His eyes met Magnus’s and he felt reassured that he had the strength to stop this. He knew that his Magnus believed in him.   
As soon as the glamour was lifted, all hell broke loose.

***   
Magnus watched as Alec and Maia walked into the room. He desperately called out his name, trying to get his attention but the glamour that Lilith had cast upon them was too strong, even sound wasn’t heard.

He watched in anger as the demon who had turned into a Magnus look alike embraced his Alec and the relief on Alec’s face broke Magnus’s heart. Rationally he knew that Alec didn’t know he was being tricked, but he couldn’t stop his jealousy from flaring up. However, he used these feelings and made magic. His hands sparked with magic and because Lilith and Sebastian couldn’t see them, Magnus zapped the demons, that were holding him hostage, making them fall to the ground. Magnus was meaning to disintegrate them but that didn’t seem to work. But he settled. He used his magic to free the rest of the gang and whispered how they should wait until they were visible to Alec.

“Where are they?” Alec’s voice shuddered out the question. Magnus could see the rapid colour change in his eye colour. He had been worried that Alec was going to step through the portal, but he couldn’t life the glamour. It was like a force field, making it impossible for any of them to step through it. His magic and Cat’s combined hadn’t been enough to break through the glamour, and Magnus couldn’t help but watch helplessly as Alec stepped closer toward the portal.

His heart kept into his throat when Maia yelled out Alec’s name and Magnus’s eyes widened at the scene unfold before him. He smirked when Alec realised that the demon wasn’t the real Magnus and mentally whooped his boyfriend for using the ring he had given him. It was crazy to think back to that moment where they lay in bed, simply enjoying their time together and now, everything was literally life or death. He pushed those thoughts away and focused back onto Alec.

He resisted the urge to whistle and shout “That’s my man.” Because watching Alec demand authority was actually very hot.

Thoughts for later. He reminded himself.

Magnus watched as Lilith lifted her hand up and waved it about, lifting glamour/ force field. The warlock shared a look with his team members and nodded, before he turned back to Alec. It was refreshing, seeing Alec and Alec seeing him back. He never knew how much he craved Alec’s gaze on him, till this moment. However, he didn’t have time to dwell on it as he rubbed his fingers together and his magic flickered to life.

Frankly, Magnus had had enough of this. He needed this to end. He held his hand up, facing Sebastian who was running his way, blade out. He felt his magic leave his body and hit Sebastian right in the chest, making him fly backward and hit the wall. Magnus smirked to himself and walked closer towards the blonde haired boy, who seemed to be smiling. “You can’t kill me.” He sneered and stood back up, leaving no time for Magnus to react. Sebastian lifted his blade up in the air and brought it down, slicing Magnus on the shoulder.

The warlock cried out and fell to the ground, feeling blood gush out of his wound. He saw the movement of Sebastian living to slicing again, but Magnus suddenly felt too weak to defend himself. However, he moved his hand, trying to get his magic to work but he was too slow. The blade moved down and Magnus flinched and closed his eyes, at the inevitable pain of the blade. Except it never came.

Cat had Sebastian stabilised with her magic, freezing him in place, and giving Magnus enough time to stand back up and throw another fireball right into Sebastian’s heart. It pierced through, making his veins pop out, one by one before his eyes rolled back into his head.

A scream was heard.

Lilith felt the sudden emptiness, where her son once stood. She turned to look at what was once her son, now corpse lying on the ground, and she couldn’t help but let out a deafening scream. Anger and adrenaline kept up in her eyes as she waved her hands about, getting all the demons who were on the floor, to stand up and walk towards her. As they did so, they surrounded Magnus and the others, keeping them inside their circle. “We have to do something.” Magnus whispered to Alec, who nodded back.

They had to act, and fast. “Alec! Your arrows!” Maia, whisper-yelled. She was standing on the other side of Alec, her eye straight on the demons who were coming closer. Alec looked at her and she nodded in encouragement, before Alec pulled his arrow out and lined it up with his bow, before sending that arrow flying and right into the closest demon’s chest. It shrivelled, and groaned, before, disinteresting into dust. Alec hid a smile, and powered through, hitting each demon one by one.

Alec let his eyes wander over to where Lilith stood and found it strange that she merely stood there, watching them. But he didn’t have time to dwell as there were demons coming at him. He was using his magic, as well as he arrows, which seemed to be working. Things were good. It looked like they were winning. However, that soon went down hill.

Two demons were surrounding Izzy, one she knew of, the other not so much. Alec called out her name, getting her to realise she was surrounded, but it was in vain. As the demon behind her, slashed her across her back. Her screams echoed through out the room, as she fell to the floor, tears gathering up in her eyes. Alec screamed her name, but she gave no reply as she now had her eyes closed and it seemed that she had passed out. Alec let himself get momentarily distracted, by looking at Izzy, that he didn’t see Lilith coming his way and stabbing him right in the stomach with one of her blades.

Alec felt pain.

He felt the stickiness of his blood on his clothes as his wound leaked. He cried out and fell to the floor. It felt like everything around him was suddenly happening in slow motion. He felt blood soak into his shirt, and drip down onto the ground. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe but couldn’t, feeling panic. There was a voice. Someone shouting his name, but Alec couldn’t focus as his vision grew blurry.

“Alec. Alexander! Stay with me.”

Alec blinked his eyes wearily, trying to get the blur to disappear. As he did so he could make out a figure, but his blood loss was making him feel tired. So he started to close his eyes, wanting to drift away for a while.   
“Alexander, don’t close your eyes!” The persistent voice came at him again, high pitched with panic.

“Stay with me.”

The words were whispered with so much love, so much care, the voice cracking half way, forcing Alec to open his eyes and meet eyes with the voice.

Magnus.

“Izzy.” He murmured. 

“She’s fine.” Magnus replied, all sorts rolling his eyes, as even in near death Alec was thinking of others. “Cat healed her.”

Alec sighed in relief, before pain washed over him once again. “Ma – gnus… Go… Save… your… self.” Alec rasped out, reaching for the warlock’s hand. Alec felt the softness of the warlock’s hand and almost smiled, which looked more like a grimace.

“Are you stupid? I am not leaving you.” Magnus gritted out in reply, before Alec felt a tingle spread through his body and it took him an embarrassingly long time to realise that it was Magnus’s magic healing Alec.

“No… Magnus, you need… your magic… to fight.” Alec whispered, and tired to move Magnus’s magical hands away from his body. But Magnus’s cat eyes merely gave him a look that screamed at him to shut up, which Alec did.

As Magnus worked, Alec let his eyes wonder around the room and saw how everyone were fighting demons that had reappeared, who seemed to be creatures who couldn’t die. Alec thought of how he had defeated the demons in the tunnels and frowned. What was so different this time? His arrows? No. They were the same as they always had been. “Magnus… they won’t die.” Alec gritted out, trying to push past the pain.

Magnus nodded and looked at Alec with worry, not saying anything in reply.   
Alec thought back to when he used his arrows for the first time on the demons. And how it didn’t work, and more had been made. Then he thought about how on his third try, the demons evaporated. What was so different that time?   
Well… He had been stabbed on the shoulder. And he had to heal that. And his blood had…

Alec froze.

His eyes widened.   
Magnus noticed the sudden change in Alec’s mood and raised an eyebrow. “Alexander?”

“My blood.” Alec whispered.

Magnus furrowed his eyebrows. “Your blood? Alec, what are you talking about? Did you lose too much blood? Because I healed you, and you don’t need – ”

“Magnus. No. My blood.” Alec interrupted. He stood up on shaky legs, making Magnus reach out and steady him. “I am going to do something and you have to promise me that you won’t intervene.” Alec said, looking straight into Magnus’s eyes. “Distract her.” Alec’s eyes were held seriousness, as they churned with the colour grey. Magnus opened his mouth to ask what was going on, what was Alec about to do. But before he could, Alec reached out for his hands and squeezed.

“I love you too.” He whispered, before running towards where his bow and arrows lay, abandoned, leaving a gobsmacked Magnus behind.

***   
Alec magicked a small blade and smiled when it appeared in his hands. He was getting good at this magic thing. He took a deep breath, before slicing the blade through his palm, wincing at the pain. He bit his lip as tears welled in his eyes, but he ignored the, and proceeded to cut himself. When the the cut was deep enough and his blood was threatening to spill onto the ground, Alec took one of his daggers out and let a few drops of his blood spill onto the ends of the arrow.

Alec looked up from his hand and watched how Magnus and Lilith were how in a magic battle, each side trying to win. Although, Alec knew, Magnus was merely buying Alec time. Alec bit his lip, before looking back at his arrows and proceeded to repeat the process of dropping his blood onto the ends, knowing he had to hurry as Magnus’s magic could run out any moment.

He finished draping all his arrows in his blood, before he placed them back into his quiver and ran back into the fight. As soon as he entered what seemed to be the area where everyone was fighting, the demons came at him. He sighed in frustration before slashing them with his arrows and moving on. He had to get to Magnus.

Alec felt time slow down, until only the sound of his own heartbeat could be heard. He ran towards Lilith, who had her back to Alec; too busy fighting Magnus to notice Alec approach. However, that’s what Alec thought.

Just as he was close enough to stab her with his arrow, she turned around with supernatural speed and grabbed the arrow with her magic, smirking. “Oh you idiot boy.” She murmured before clicking her fingers and freezing everyone under her magic, although they could still see and hear everything. “Did you really think you could sneak up on me?” She taunted and threw her head back to laugh, before turning her back to what she assumed was a frozen Alec.

Lilith walked towards Magnus and ran her long black nail down his throat, and chest, whilst smiling. “Such a pretty face.” She whispered.

Alec had had enough. He had realised that he was not frozen when Lilith was too busy talking to Magnus. Alec almost smiled to himself before he waved his hand, slightly, and magicking himself to make his moves silent. He crept towards Lilith, whilst holding his arrow. He wasn’t sure if this was going to work, but he took the risk anyway.

Alec lifted the arrow into the air, and without giving Lilith time to turn or to react, Alec stabbed his blood- filled around right in the middle of her back. She slowly turned around, her eyes wide with horror, before her pupils disappeared inside her head and her eyes grew white, body started to shake erratically. Black blood dropped started to drip out if her mouth, ears, nose and even her eyes as she dropped to the ground.

As soon as she dropped her magic lifted from everyone frozen, meaning they could move again. Alec watched the life drain away from Lilith, before he ran to Magnus and pulled him into his arms. Magnus returned the hug and they both seemed to be shaking in each other’s embrace. Alec pulled his head away from where he had tucked it into the warlock’s neck and rested it against Magnus’s. “You’re okay. You’re okay. It’s over. We are okay.” Alec repeated over and over again. Magnus wasn’t sure which of them he was trying to convince, but he nodded in agreement nonetheless.

After a few minutes of simply enjoying each other’s touch, they separated to hug everyone else and to see if anyone was hurt. But luck was on their side as no one had any major injuries. Alec pulled Izzy into his chest and smiled into her hair, before placing a small kiss in it. Izzy pulled back and looked up at her brother with a huge smile. “I’m so proud of you, big brother.” She whispered and Alec felt his eyebrows go up. This was the first time she had called him brother and warmness settled within Alec’s heart. He smiled back and pulled her in a hug again, in reply.

Everyone was too busy hugging and smiling to realise that they were still stuck in Lilith’s lair. “Guys. We still need to get out of here. And lord only knows how many traps and maze like tunnels are in this building. But we should stick – ”

He was interrupted by the opening of the doors that they had entered from, that had been locked and shut at their arrival. Jace ran in, his face twisted with concern and worry as he scanned the room. “You guys are okay!” He let out a relieved sigh and sagged. Behind him were the other rescue teams and Simon stood next to him. Jace ran to Izzy and Alec and embraced them into a bear hug, smiling from ear to ear. “I’m sorry I was late. Missed all the fun.” Jace murmured. Izzy and Alec snorted. Trust Jace to sound like a prick whilst apologising. Alec pulled back to tell him just that but he saw the truth of his words reflect in his eyes.

Alec nodded and patted him on the shoulder. “We get it. Lilith’s magic had shut the doors closed right?” 

Jace nodded. “Yeah. One minute we are trying everything we can to open them, then the next they just fly open.”

“When Alec killed Lilith, her magic died with her.” Izzy explained. 

Jace’s eyebrows rose. “You killed Lilith?” His voice sounded shocked. “How?”

Alec opened his mouth to reply but stopped and looked at Magnus. Magnus had put two and two together, after Alec asked him to promise that he wouldn’t step into help. He slightly shook his head at Alec. It was not safe to talk about the power his blood held, out in the open.

“Lets get out of here.” Alec replied, instead.

Jace raised one eyebrow and frowned but luckily he reluctantly nodded and gestured for the teams to clear out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so next chapter will be the last chapter. It’s basically an epilogue/ ending to close this story. Plus it shall be fluffy. 
> 
> Thank you guys for being patient with me. I will most likely post the last chapter soon because school has nearly finished.


	25. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here you guys. THE END to this story. 
> 
> Writing this was a lot of fun and I’m sad to see it end but I’m happy too. Because this means I can start more stories!! Yaya!!!
> 
> Hope you all like it!!!

When they portalled into the Brooklyn Loft, nostalgia hit Alec. He hadn’t been here in what felt like ages. He looked toward Magnus and saw that Magnus was feeling the same thing, based on his expression. Alec took slow tentative steps, not quite believing that it was all over.

He was taken out of his thoughts when he felt a hand interlace with his. Alec turned his head to look at Magnus and smiled.

“We’re home.” Magnus whispered, his eyes welling. Alec nodded and smiled back.

“Home.” Alec mimicked. He had never had a home before. It felt surreal to think that now he had.

“Okay Alec, explain.” Jace demanded, interrupting Magnus and Alec from their moment.

Magnus rolled his eyes and glared at the blonde. Alec nodded and led them all to the sofas. Jace and Izzy had returned back with them, whilst everyone else went back to the institute where they were being checked for any injuries. Alec sat down and sighed, before he turned to look for Magnus. Magnus smiled and sat next to him and took the hybrid’s hand. 

“Okay.” Alec began, letting out a deep breath. “What I say, does not leave this room okay?” He still didn’t know who he could and couldn’t trust with this information. 

Jace and Izzy nodded.

“My blood… is… my blood is poison to demons.” He whispered, squeezing Magnus’s hand. He heard Izzy’s gasp and watched how Jace’s eyes grew huge.

“But how?” Jace wondered out loud.

“Well… my blood is half demon, half angel. Apart from Tessa, Magnus’s friend, that has never happened before. And even then my blood is different from Tessa’s. I was cursed to be this way, by magic. Changing what I was supposed to be. A regular Shadowhunter. And I think… my blood being poison was the side affect? I don’t know the details and I may never know them, I guess. It’s not like there is a book about this. And I guess my blood hurts only pure demons. That is why it doesn’t hurt warlocks or... me.” 

There was silence, after he finished talking. Everyone was processing this information. Even Magnus seemed to be lost in thought.

“So when did you know that you could… you know?” Jace asked, and Alec almost rolled his eyes at the blonde’s choice of words.

“When I was transported away from you guys…” he turned to look at Magnus and smiled softly, seeing the worry in Magnus’s eyes and knew how the warlock must have felt. “I found Maia in a cell, where we were locked up. I broke us out using my magic and there was a long tunnel – like corridor, where demons came out of nowhere at us.” Magnus tensed, but relaxed when he felt the soft movements of Alec’s fingers on the back of his hand. “I shot them with my arrow but, they only made more of themselves. Then I shot out fireballs, just like you taught me.” He looked at Magnus, with wide eyes and Magnus smiled, feeling proud of Alec.

“But that didn’t work either.” The hybrid’s eyebrows scrunched. “Then one of them came at me and scratched me in the shoulder and… now that I think about it… the blood must have trickled down to where my arrows lay on my shoulder. Which is why when I shot my arrows again, the demons were defeated this time.”

After Alec finished, he sagged into Magnus’s chest and let the warlock hold him. Magnus his his smile in Alec’s hair and twisted the black strands around his fingers. He looked at Izzy, who nodded in understanding at what Magnus meant.

“Come on Jace. We still have to find out what happened to mom. We will be back tomorrow.” She said, raising her eyebrows at Jace and willing him to understand. At first Jace’s eyebrows scrunched up in confusion but soon realised what his sister meant and nodded frantically, before standing up.

“Okay.” He muttered. 

“Bye guys, see you tomorrow. Get some rest okay?” Izzy said, kissing Alec and Magnus on their foreheads, before the two Lightwoods left.

*** 

Alec and Magnus stayed silent for a while, taking pleasure in the peace and quiet.

“I love you too.” Alec muttered, remembering that he hadn’t returned those words to Magnus.

Magnus froze his lazy patterns in Alec’s hair and moved away from Alec so he could see the hybrid’s face. 

Alec could see the vulnerability on the warlock’s face, which only made Alec love him more. 

“You do?” Magnus whispered, not quiet sure if what he was hearing was real or some joke. 

“Of course I do… how could I not? You’re… You’re _everything_.” Alec whispered, bringing his head closer to Magnus, so their noses brushed softly.

“I love you, Magnus Bane, so much.” Alec’s eyes churned with a soft red as he eyed Magnus with love and… passion. Magnus had always admired the other boy’s warlock mark, but he had to admit that when it was directed at him… it was _hot_. 

“I love you too.” Magnus replied, before moving forward and crashing his lips with Alec’s. Alec let go of all his worries and smiled into the kiss, before pulling back and looking at the warlock. “Magnus... I never asked but why did... why did you decide to let me stay here and help me?” 

Magnus smiled and brushed a strand of hair out of Alec’s face. “Because you needed someone to take care of you. And don’t you know, Alexander? Rare things must be cherished.” 

*** 

**Two years later**

Alec smiled to himself as he walked home from a long and busy day at the institute. After Maryse was banished to Wrangel Island for ‘character building’ and for her crimes, of course, Izzy was left in charge of the New York institute. To which she gave her position to Alec, saying that it was meant to go to the eldest child. Alec was hesitant at first to accept, but after a lot of encouragement from Magnus, Izzy and Jace, not to mention how welcoming the rest of the Shadowhunters had been to Alec after the war, Alec finally accepted.

He was almost home, which he shared with his boyfriend Magnus, when he heard a loud shrill noise of a child crying. Alec immediately stiffened and followed the noise, his bow and arrow ready. Even though he had magic, he liked to use his bow and arrow before turning to his magic. Alec followed the crying into a dark alley way, where he saw what looked like a baby’s car seat on the floor. He walked closer, albeit wearily, and gasped when he got close enough to see who was inside.

A small baby, no more than a few months old, lay there; thrashing about as he cried. Alec was momentarily stunned before he jumped into action and grabbed the weeping child. The child’s cries turned to soft sniffles and snuggled deeper into Alec’s chest. The baby was wrapped in an old rag which didn’t look warm at all, making Alec want to curse aloud. But he stopped himself, not wanting to scare the child.

The hybrid magicked up a soft blanket from home and gently manoeuvred the baby, until he was safely tucked inside. As he did so, the light from a nearby street lamp shone on the baby’s face and Alec’s eyes widened when he saw the blue skin, the child had. He gently touched the child’s cheek and smiled when the baby grabbed Alec’s thumb and started suckling on it. “You’re hungry, little one?” Alec whispered and as if the baby understood what he said, opened his big blue eyes and stared up at Alec.

Alec smiled down at the baby and was about to make a portal back home, when he saw a piece of paper on the car seat.

_Who could ever love it?_

Alec’s heart broke at the five words that were written, he turned back to the baby, checking him over visually, before he opened up a portal and stepped inside.

*** 

“There is the blanket that suddenly disappeared from my legs.” Magnus greeted him as soon as he stepped into the apartment. Alec gave him a sheepish smile before he walked closer to the warlock.

“What are you holding?” Magnus asked, getting up from the sofas and walked closer.

When he saw the blue skinned baby in Alec’s arms, he froze and looked at Alec with questions in his eyes. “Alexander?”

Alec sighed and sat down, magicked up a bottle for the baby and started to tell Magnus how had had found the infant and what the note said.

After Alec finished, they sat silently and watched the baby fall asleep in Alec’s arms. 

“So… do you think… Cat can find a good home for him?” Alec asked, not really wanting to send the baby away. Magnus looked away from the baby and at Alec. 

“No need.” He replied, his voice sounding so sure. 

Alec whipped his head towards Magnus, his eyes big with surprise. “You mean…? 

Magnus nodded. “Yes. We can adopt him… I mean, I’ve always wanted children but warlocks can’t have children so… and to be honest I already love him so much.” Magnus laughed as he looked at the baby. 

Alec chuckled and his eyes grew teary. “Me too.” Alec whispered.

“So… we were really doing this? Having a child… together?” Alec confirmed.

Magnus nodded. “Yes. You want this too. Right?” 

Alec nodded back. “I’ve always wanted a family, Magnus. And now…” he looked down at the child in his arms and smiled. “I finally have one.” 

Magnus moved closer to Alec and let the hybrid fall back against his chest as he held their son in his arms. 

“What shall we name him?” Magnus whispered into Alec’s ear, giving it a little nip.

“Max.” 

 

 ~ FIN ~ 

**Author's Note:**

> Your comments and kudos are much appreciated!!


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